This work describes the current state of research on the potential relationship between protein content in human saliva and dental caries, which remains among the most common oral diseases and causes irreversible damage in the oral cavity. An understanding the whole saliva proteome in the oral cavity could serve as a prerequisite to obtaining insight into the etiology of tooth decay at early stages. To date, however, there is no comprehensive evidence showing that salivary proteins could serve as potential indicators for the early diagnosis of the risk factors causing dental caries. Therefore, proteomics indicates the promising direction of future investigations of such factors, including diagnosis and thus prevention in dental therapy.

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Objective: Adipose tissue is a major endocrine organ and plays a key role in energy homeostasis. Two types of adipose tissue such as white and brown adipose tissue exist having essentially different physiological function. The epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is considered as reliable marker of visceral adiposity, however its composition is not entirely clear. The aim of our study was to examine the qualitative features of EAT by ultrasound histograms in obese and normal-weight adolescents. Methods: 70 (mean age of 17.72 ± 1.20) randomly selected adolescents were involved in this study. Ultrasonographic histogram was used to assess the EAT structure by the contrast between the epicardial adipose tissue and left atrium (EAT/LA-value). Furthermore, anthropometric and biochemical parameters of cardiovascular risk were also obtained. Results: The EAT/LA-value differed significantly between normal weight and obese youngsters (14.76±0.83 vs. 26.22±0.95; p0.001) and was associated with clinical parameters of obesity (body mass index (BMI): r=0.57; p0.0001 and BMI percentile: r=0.72; p0.0001), laboratory parameters of cardiovascular risk factors (ALT: r=0.38; p<0.001, adiponectin: r=-0.33; p<0.01, hsCRP: r=0.24; p<0.05) and EAT thickness (EAT at end-systole: r=0.46; p<0.0001 and EAT at enddiastole: r=0.43; p<0.0001). Multiple regression analysis showed that the EAT/LA-value was associated with EAT at end-systole [B (95%CI) = 2.52 (0.94, 4.11); p≤0.01] and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) [9.23 (0.20, 18.26); p≤0.05 however, BMI proved to be the strongest independent predictor [0.16 (0.10, 0.21); p≤0.001 Conclusion: The ultrasound histogram of epicardial adipose tissue seems to be non-invasive, low-cost and easy imaging approach that can