Over the last years, there has been an increasing attention over the use of
saliva as a proper diagnostic fluid. One of the most interesting aspects in saliva based
diagnosis is the non-invasive method of obtaining oral samples. This is a safe method
for both, the health worker and the patient, related to the management of saliva
samples.
The utility of the whole saliva sample as an instrument of salivary diagnosis has been
proven in almost all the research fields. The relation between saliva based components
and blood based components has been proven and hence, salivary diagnosis could be a
proper and accurate tool for disease diagnosis. The research of salivary biomarkers in
viral and bacterial infections, autoimmune diseases, endocrine diseases, oncology,
systemic diseases, stress assessment, medication detection and forensic science among
others, is becoming a reality.
It is expected that, with the help of current technological advances, salivary analysis
which owns the analytical sensitivity and specificity required for this technology, could
be used as a valuable tool and a diagnostic medium to achieve successful findings.
However, there is a lot of work to do due to the fact that, some results from certain
investigations still remain contradictory.
Definitions of Words and Terms
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a Biomarker is an
objectively measured and evaluated indicator of normal biological processes,
pathogenic processes or pharmacological responses to a therapeutic
intervention [1].
Saliva is a complex fluid composed of different secretions from the major
and minor salivary glands.
Keywords: Acini salivary, Acinus cell, Analyte, Biofluid, Biomarkers, Crevicular
fluid, Early diagnosis, miRNA, mRNA, ncRNA, Oral cancer, Point of care,
Salivary diagnostic, Salivary gland, Salivary metabolome, Salivary microbiome,
Salivary proteome, Salivary transcriptome, Systemic diseases, Whole saliva.
