This systematic review presents the latest trends in salivary research and its applications in health and disease. Among the large number of analytes present in saliva, many are affected by diverse physiological and pathological conditions. Further, the non-invasive, easy and cost-effective collection methods prompt an interest in evaluating its diagnostic or prognostic utility. Accumulating data over the past two decades indicates towards the possible utility of saliva to monitor overall health, diagnose and treat various oral or systemic disorders and drug monitoring. Advances in saliva based systems biology has also contributed towards identification of several biomarkers, development of diverse salivary diagnostic kits and other sensitive analytical techniques. However, its utilization should be carefully evaluated in relation to standardization of pre-analytical and analytical variables, such as collection and storage methods, analyte circadian variation, sample recovery, prevention of sample contamination and analytical procedures. In spite of all these challenges, there is an escalating evolution of knowledge with the use of this biological matrix.

Background/aim: To evaluate salivary antioxidant defense markers, their correlation with salivary glucose, and glycemic status in type II diabetes mellitus (DM). Materials and methods:The study included 53 diabetic patients and 40 healthy subjects. Salivary glucose, blood glucose, and uric acid (UA) were determined by specific enzymatic methods. Total antioxidant activity (AOA), glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and total protein were determined spectrophotometrically.Results: Salivary UA (3.12 vs. 1.89 mg/dL), GSH (47 vs. 11.92 µg/mL), and total protein (375.12 vs. 202.23 mg/dL) were significantly higher (P < 0.001; r = 0.455, 0.735, 0.498 respectively) and AOA (653.1 vs. 897.3 µmol/L) was significantly lower in the DM group (P < 0.001, r = -0.431) compared to healthy controls. Among the antioxidant enzymes, CAT was significantly lower (1214 vs. 9468.9 kat) in the DM group (P < 0.001, r = -0.886). Spearman correlation analyses within the diabetic group showed a strong positive association between salivary glucose and blood glucose (P < 0.001, r = 0.9), salivary glucose and GSH, and salivary glucose and UA. Salivary glucose showed a negative correlation with AOA and CAT (P = 0.008, r = -0.447) in the diabetic group. Conclusion:Findings of this study, showing a strong correlation between salivary glucose and blood glucose as well as changes in antioxidant components in the DM group, suggest that saliva can be used for the diagnosis and management of DM.

Objectives: This study aimed to understand whether an enriched environment (EE) in adulthood benefits in mitigating the early life stress-induced changes in the structure and functions of the hippocampus and amygdala. Materials and Methods: Male Wistar rats were exposed daily for 6 h to early maternal separation and isolation (MS) stress from postnatal days (PND) 4–14 and later at PND 60–70 days subjected to EE, while, the normal control (NC) rats were not subjected to stress but reared with the mother under standard housing conditions. The effects of MS and EE on adulthood behaviour were not subjected to stress but assessed by measuring the ambulatory, repetitive and anxiety-like behaviour. The study has also done the plasma corticosterone concentrations. The dendritic remodelling in the amygdala and hippocampus was assessed using the Golgi cox staining approach. Finally, the present study compared the reactive oxygen species-induced lipid peroxidation and total antioxidant capacity in MS rats as an indirect measure of oxidative stress to study the impact of MS stress on the limbic circuit and peripheral organs. Results: MS rats showed increased anxiety and lower plasma corticosterone levels. The pyramidal neurons’ dendritic plasticity displayed a different pattern, with shrinkage in the CA1 hippocampal neurons and hypertrophy in the amygdala’s primary neurons. Variations in antioxidant activity and peroxidation observed in NC to MS across tissues indicate the occurrence and management of oxidative stress in MS. The 10 days of EE in young adulthood helped to reduce MS stress-induced structural abnormalities in hippocampal and amygdala pyramidal neurons, as well as anxiety and plasma corticosterone levels. Conclusion: These findings together indicate that exposure to adverse experiences may cause harmful effects on brain plasticity and behaviour in young adulthood. Exposure to EE may be beneficial in reducing the early life stress-induced pathophysiology later in life.