Saliva Iron Levels to Assess Iron Status in Children

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Iron plays an essential role in the process of neurotransmitter synthesis and neuron myelination. Iron deficiency impacts low cognitive performance, even involved in long-term effects even though iron deficiency has been overcome. Given the impact caused by iron deficiency, it is necessary to monitor the status of iron in the body. Diagnostic tests carried out so far use blood specimens taken with invasive method. This creates fear for the child because of the pain it causes. AIM: This study aims to obtain a non-invasive alternative diagnostic test in detecting iron deficiency in children using saliva as an examination specimen. METHODS: The design of this study was case control, with a sample of elementary school children aged 9–12 years and for women who had not experienced menstruation. The sample consisted of 40 people who were taken randomly and grouped into iron deficiency and normal. Determine the group of iron deficiency and normal was based on the results of an examination of serum iron levels. Next, saliva samples were taken to determine saliva iron levels. The characteristics of the sample data were obtained through a questionnaire, while the measurement of serum iron levels was carried out by the spectrophotometric method, and the measurement of saliva iron levels was carried out by the ELISA method. Data were analyzed using Spearman’s test. RESULTS: Based on serum iron measurements, it was found that the mean serum iron levels in children with iron deficiency were lower than normal children (38.153 ± 8.99 q/dL vs. 79.198 ± 14.2219 q/dL), on the contrary, on examination of iron levels, it was found that in children with iron deficiency, saliva iron levels were higher than in normal children (5.745 ± 3.04 q/dL vs. 2,576 ± 1.43 q/dL). The correlation test results showed a significant negative correlation between serum iron levels and moderate iron levels (p = 0.000, r = –0.518). CONCLUSION: Saliva iron levels can be used as an alternative non-invasive diagnostic test to assess children’s iron status.

The Dynamics of Resting-State EEG and Salivary Trace Elements in Patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

“…According to the numerous findings, the amount of iron in saliva and its dynamics follow opposite patterns to the amount of iron in the blood. 46 In particular, it was discovered that serum-iron-deficient participants could have salivary iron even higher than that of the controls. 47 Moreover, an increase in blood iron levels owing to the action of the enzyme lactoferrin follows a drop in saliva iron as a result of physical, mental, or emotional stress.…”

“…We suggested that the decrease in the saliva iron could serve as a marker of the compensatory process in response to cognitive load during task solving. According to the numerous findings, the amount of iron in saliva and its dynamics follow opposite patterns to the amount of iron in the blood . In particular, it was discovered that serum-iron-deficient participants could have salivary iron even higher than that of the controls .…”

Effect of the Emotional Antisaccade Tasks on Salivary Trace Elements and Resting State EEG in Patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

“…We suggested that the decrease in iron in saliva could serve as a marker of compensatory dynamics of task solving. According to the ndings of numerous experts, the amount of iron in saliva and its dynamics follow opposite patterns to the amount of iron in the blood [34]. In particular, it was discovered that iron-de cient participants' salivary iron could be even higher than that of the controls [35].…”

Non-invasive iron deficiency diagnosis: a saliva-based approach using capillary flow microfluidics

“…15 As an alternative, saliva has successfully been reported in the literature to detect Fe deciency and anemia. 13,[16][17][18] Duran et al and Rahim et al described that salivary Fe levels were signicantly lowered in iron-decient anemic subjects compared to non-anemic subjects. 13,16 The obtained results indicate that saliva Fe could be regularly used for diagnostic tests, revealing both Fe overload and deciency within the body.…”