Salivary PH a Potential Biomarker for Risk of Heart Disease

Study analyzes the potential of saliva to act as an effective biomarker for cardiovascular disease risk factors, by establishing the relationship between salivary pH and adiponectin in women.

A Canadian study analyzed the association between salivary pH and plasma adiponectin levels, in women and found a linear relationship between the two.

Adiponectin a protein hormone, constituting around 0.01% of the plasma proteins is produced by the fat tissue and regulates the metabolic activities like glucose regulation and fatty acids catabolism. It has also been found to have anti-inflammatory effects and reduce insulin resistance and the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Cardiometabolic Factors Modified Through Lifestyle Changes
Cardiometabolic risk factors and obesity are closely linked to insulin resistance. These factors make-up the metabolic syndrome (MS) and are closely linked to dietary habits and life style.

It is an established fact that adiponectin level is greatly reduced with increased body fat percentage. And higher fat percentage is correlated with increased risk of type2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases.

A study tried to establish the association between adiponectin and salivary pH in women. The salivary pH in women is lesser than that compared to men and is affected by the menopausal status.

The study included 151 Caucasian women with 53 pre-menopausal women in one group and 98 menopausal women in the other. Salivary pH and plasma adiponectin levels were analyzed in both the groups.

Heart Damage Induced by Stress Prevented by Fat Hormone
A cardioprotective hormone, adiponectin, prevents damage induced by stress to the heart, claim scientists at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute.

The researchers found that the salivary pH varied in proportion to the plasma adiponectin levels in women in both the groups but showed a prominent linear relationship in menopausal women.

There were certain limitations to the findings.

Protein Adiponectin Could Ward Off Cancer And Cardiovascular Disease
Protein adiponectin could ward off cancer and cardiovascular disease. A compound that mimics the effects of adiponectin has been developed in US.

• Previous conditions like insulin resistance and hyperlipidemia, which could influence the adiponectin levels and salivary pH, were not taken into account.

• The study involved only women and was based on the menopausal status thus limiting the use of salivary pH as a biomarker in health assessment.

Biomarker Tests may Help Diagnose Heart Attack
Use of contemporary or highly sensitive test for levels of troponin I (a protein in muscle tissue) may help determine diagnosis of heart attack within hours, shows study.

With obesity, type2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases becoming a worldwide epidemic, saliva sampling could prove to be an easy and inexpensive diagnostic and screening method for health assessment. Further studies are required in this regard.

Reference: Salivary pH as a Marker of Plasma Adiponectin Concentrations in Women; Monique et al; Diabetology and Metabolic Syndrome 2012.

Source-Medindia