Oral Biofluid Biomarker Research: Current Status and Emerging Frontiers

Abstract

Salivary diagnostics is a rapidly advancing field that offers clinicians and patients the potential of rapid, noninvasive diagnostics with excellent accuracy. In order for the complete realization of the potential of saliva, however, extensive profiling of constituents must be conducted and diagnostic biomarkers must be thoroughly validated. This article briefly overviews the process of conducting a study of salivary biomarkers in a patient cohort and highlights the studies that have been conducted on different classes of molecules in the saliva. Emerging frontiers in salivary diagnostics research that may significantly advance the field will also be highlighted.

Salivary alpha‐amylase and hormones levels of young adults with different body composition

“…Saliva is an advantageous biological fluid in innovative methods for diagnosis. Besides being a noninvasive method, whole saliva consists of plasma electrolyte and variable concentrations of blood and serum products (Wang, Wang, Tu, & Wong, ). Much of the early research on saliva focused on its biomarker function as an indicator of oral disease, such as periodontitis and oral cancer, but currently studies are focusing on investigating the feasibility of using saliva analysis to identify biomarkers for other systemic diseases (Farnaud, Kosti, Getting, & Renshaw, ; Lehmann‐Kalata et al, ).…”

“…serum products (Wang, Wang, Tu, & Wong, 2016). Much of the early research on saliva focused on its biomarker function as an indicator of oral disease, such as periodontitis and oral cancer, but currently studies are focusing on investigating the feasibility of using saliva analysis to identify biomarkers for other systemic diseases (Farnaud, Kosti, Getting, & Renshaw, 2010;Lehmann-Kalata et al, 2018).…”

Diagnostic Importance of Saliva – An Overview

“…34 In Dengue endemic regions, Dengue virus specific IgA in saliva was detected. 35 Moreover antibodies directed against specific antigens of Plasmodium falciparum antigens, dengue virus, and Ebola virus have also been detected in saliva 36 Human herpes virus, HIV infection, Epstein-Barr virus, Cytomegalovirus and hepatitis C virus can easily be detected using saliva as the bio specimen. It has good sensitivity and specificity and is the best alternative to serum.…”

Advancing Point-of-Care (PoC) Testing Using Human Saliva as Liquid Biopsy

“…Salivary diagnostics needs appropriate identification and validation of biomarkers for the detection of diseases, and a biomarker is a quantifiable parameter that can interact physiologically and biochemically at a molecular or cellular level, which sequentially acts as an indicator of normal, pathological, and interventional behaviours of the body's response [55,56]. Biomarkers include several classes, such as proteins, DNA, RNA, metabolites, and microbes, so collectively these all are used for diagnosis of several diseases and are called a molecular signature [57].…”

“…Additionally, without the extraction of DNA and nucleic acid, EFIRM can analyse the mutation status within an hour. IL-8 protein and IL-8 mRNA markers for oral cancer, non-squamous cell lung cancer (NSCLC) oncogenic mutation, and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation in non-small cell lung cancer can be detected through this EFIRM system [57,84].…”