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Stress, anxiety and depressive disorders are often characterized by the activation of the stress axis, which results in similar symptoms at some point in these disorders. These disorders are closely related to each other—they occur simultaneously or follow one another. The diagnosis of stress, anxiety and depression is not a perfect procedure currently—it is based on patient observation and an interview with the patient and their family. There are no laboratory tests that would dispel the doubts of the doctor making the diagnosis and allow the appropriate treatment to be implemented as soon as possible. Therefore, this study will review the components of saliva that could be helpful in the quick diagnosis of stress, anxiety and/or depression. Such potential salivary biomarkers could also be useful in monitoring the effectiveness of pharmacological treatment prescribed by a psychiatrist. The following are promising salivary biomarkers of stress, anxiety or depression: cortisol, immunoglobulin A (sIgA), lysozyme, melatonin, α-amylase (sAA), chromogranin A (CgA) and fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2). To the best valuable potential salivary markers of stress, we can include cortisol, lysozyme, sAA and CgA. To differentiate depression from stress, salivary cortisol and melatonin can be helpful. Fluctuations in the concentrations of the above-mentioned substances in saliva indicate a particularly strong relationship with typical human psychological problems, such as stress, depression or anxiety.

The prevention or alleviation of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), is a challenge for contemporary health services. The aim of this study was to review the literature on the prevention or alleviation of AD by introducing an appropriate carnitine-rich diet, dietary carnitine supplements and the MIND (Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) diet, which contains elements of the Mediterranean diet and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet. L-carnitine (LC) plays a crucial role in the energetic metabolism of the cell. A properly balanced diet contains a substantial amount of LC as well as essential amino acids and microelements taking part in endogenous carnitine synthesis. In healthy people, carnitine biosynthesis is sufficient to prevent the symptoms of carnitine deficiency. In persons with dysfunction of mitochondria, e.g., with AD connected with extensive degeneration of the brain structures, there are often serious disturbances in the functioning of the whole organism. The Mediterranean diet is characterized by a high consumption of fruits and vegetables, cereals, nuts, olive oil, and seeds as the major source of fats, moderate consumption of fish and poultry, low to moderate consumption of dairy products and alcohol, and low intake of red and processed meat. The introduction of foodstuffs rich in carnitine and the MIND diet or carnitine supplementation of the AD patients may improve their functioning in everyday life.

Exoglycosidases are hydrolases involved in lysosomal degradation of oligosaccharide chains of glycoconjugates (glycoproteins, glycolipids and proteoglycans). In tissues and body fluids, a higher exoglycosidase specific activity is found in N-acetyl-β-hexosaminidase, than β-glucuronidase, α-L-fucosidase, β-galactosidase, α-mannosidase and α-glucosidase. Determination of exoglycosidases (especially N-acetyl-β-hexosaminidase and β-glucuronidase) in body fluids could be an inexpensive, easy to perform and sensitive test for pathological evaluation, as well as in screening and monitoring many diseases, including alcohol abuse, risk of arteriosclerosis, bacterial infections (e.g. Lyme borreliosis), chronic inflammatory processes, such as rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile idiopathic arthritis, asthma, autoimmune hepatitis and primary biliary cirrhosis, as well as cancers.

Our findings demonstrated that children with UPJO showed increased renal activities of assessed exoglycosidases, which correlated positively with the urine albumin/creatinine ratio. A larger multicentre study is required to confirm the clinical applications of these observations.

BackgroundThe present study aimed to assess whether the urinary profiles of the lysosomal exoglycosidases N‑acetyl‑β‑hexosaminidase (HEX) and its isoenzymes A (HEX A) and B (HEX B), α-fucosidase (FUC), β-galactosidase (GAL), α-mannosidase (MAN), and β- glucuronidase (GLU) are useful biomarkers of tubular dysfunction in children with a solitary functioning kidney (SFK).MethodsWe measured the urinary activity of HEX, its isoenzymes HEX A, HEX B, and FUC, GAL, MAN, and GLU in 52 patients with SFK. Patients were subdivided into two groups: congenital SFK (cSFK)—unilateral renal agenesis and acquired SFK (aSFK)—unilateral nephrectomy. The reference group (RG) contained 60 healthy sex- and age-matched children.ResultsUrinary activity of all exoglycosidases in SFK was significantly higher than in RG (p < 0.05). There were no differences in exoglycosidase activity between cSFK and aSFK (p > 0.05). HEX and its isoenzymes HEX A and HEX B correlated negatively with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and all estimated parameters correlated positively with albumin/creatinine ratio (p < 0.001).ConclusionUrinary activity of HEX, its isoenzymes HEX A and HEX B, and FUC, GAL, MAN, and GLU is elevated in children with SFK. Long-term follow-up studies in larger groups of children with SFK may help us to better understand their clinical significance.

Salivary lactoferrin is a glycoprotein involved in the elimination of pathogens and the prevention of massive overgrowth of microorganisms that affect oral and general health. A high concentration of lactoferrin in saliva is often considered to be a marker of damage to the salivary glands, gingivitis, or leakage through inflamed or damaged oral mucosa, infiltrated particularly by neutrophils. We conducted a study to determine the effect of chronic alcohol intoxication on salivary lactoferrin concentration and output. The study included 30 volunteers consisting of ten non-smoking male patients after chronic alcohol intoxication (group A), and 20 control nonsmoking male social drinkers (group C) with no history of alcohol abuse. Resting whole saliva was collected 24 to 48 hours after a chronic alcohol intoxication period. Lactoferrin was assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. For all participants, the DMFT index (decayed, missing, or filled teeth), gingival index (GI) and papilla bleeding index (PBI) were assessed. The differences between groups were evaluated using the Mann--Whitney U test. We noticed significantly decreased salivary flow (SF) in alcohol dependent patients after chronic alcohol intoxication (A), compared to the control group (C). Although there was no significant difference in salivary lactoferrin concentration between the alcohol dependent group A and the control group C, we found significantly decreased lactoferrin output in group A compared to group C. We found a significant correlation between the amount of daily alcohol use and a decrease in lactoferrin output. There was a significant increase in GI and a tendency of PBI to increase in group A compared to group C. We demonstrated that chronic alcohol intoxication decreases SF and lactoferrin output. The decreased lactoferrin output in persons chronically intoxicated by alcohol may be the result of lactoferrin exhaustion during drinking (due to its alcohol-related lower 249Alcohol and salivary lactoferrin