Saliva nitric test strip (Berkeley Test) showing colored scale of nitric oxide status – See article and jump to Cardiovascular Disease, Nitric Oxide: a salivary biomarker for cardio-protection
Saliva testing or Salivaomics is a diagnostic technique that involves laboratory analysis of saliva to identify markers of endocrine, immunologic, inflammatory, infectious, and other types of conditions. Saliva is a useful biological fluid for assaying steroid hormones such as cortisol, genetic material like RNA, proteins such as enzymes and antibodies, and a variety of other substances, including natural metabolites, including saliva nitrite, a biomarker for nitric oxide status (see below for Cardiovascular Disease, Nitric Oxide: a salivary biomarker for cardio-protection).
Saliva testing is used to screen for or diagnose numerous conditions and disease states,[1] including Cushing's disease, anovulation, HIV, cancer, parasites, hypogonadism, and allergies. Salivary testing has even been used by the U.S. government to assess circadian rhythm shifts in astronauts before flight and to evaluate hormonal profiles of soldiers undergoing military survival training.[2][3]
Proponents of saliva testing cite its ease of collection, safety, non-invasiveness, affordability, accuracy, and capacity to circumvent venipuncture as the primary advantages when compared to blood testing and other types of diagnostic testing. Additionally, since multiple samples can be readily obtained, saliva testing is particularly useful for performing chronobiological assessments that span hours, days, or weeks. Collecting whole saliva by passive drool has a myriad of advantages. Passive drool collection facilitates large sample size collection. Consequently, this allows the sample to be tested for more than one biomarker. It also gives the researcher the ability to freeze the left over specimen to be used at a later time. Additionally, it lessens the possibility of contamination by eliminating extra collection devices and the need to induce saliva flow.[4]
The testing of salivation by the use of mercury was performed at least as early as 1685.[5] Testing the acidity of saliva occurred at least as early as 1808.[6] The clinical use of saliva testing occurred at least as early as 1836 in patients with bronchitis.[7] In 1959, scientists in the journal Cancer raised the possibility of using biochemical changes in acid phosphatases in saliva as an indicator of the presence of prostate cancer.[8]
More recent studies have focused on detection of steroid hormones and antibodies in the saliva. Recent applications emphasize the development of increasingly sophisticated techniques to detect additional proteins, genetic material, and markers of nutritional status. According to Wong, scientists are now viewing saliva as "a valuable biofluid…with the potential to extract more data than is possible currently with other diagnostic methods."[9]
^Nonaka T, Wong DT (13 June 2022). "Saliva Diagnostics". Annual Review of Analytical Chemistry. 15 (1): 107–121. Bibcode:2022ARAC...15..107N. doi:10.1146/annurev-anchem-061020-123959. ISSN 1936-1327. PMC 9348814. PMID 35696523. S2CID 249644061.
^Morgan CA, Wang S, Mason J, et al. (May 2000). "Hormone profiles in humans experiencing military survival training". Biol. Psychiatry. 47 (10): 891–901. doi:10.1016/s0006-3223(99)00307-8. PMID 10807962. S2CID 36241351.
^Whitson PA, Putcha L, Chen YM, Baker E (April 1995). "Melatonin and cortisol assessment of circadian shifts in astronauts before flight". J. Pineal Res. 18 (3): 141–7. doi:10.1111/j.1600-079x.1995.tb00152.x. PMID 7562371. S2CID 37522924. Archived from the original on 2021-11-23. Retrieved 2019-11-30.
^Granger Douglas A., Kivlighan Katie T., Fortunato Christine, Harmon Amanda G., Hibel Leah C., Schwartz Eve B., Whembolua Guy-Lucien (2007). "Integration of Salivary Biomarkers into Developmental and Behaviorally-oriented Research: Problems and Solutions for Collecting Specimens". Physiology & Behavior. 92 (4): 583–90. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2007.05.004. PMID 17572453. S2CID 22420479.
^Nicolas de Blégny (1685). Zodiacus Medico-Gallicus, sive miscellaneorum curiosorum, medico-physicorum sylloge. Vol. 5. Chouët. p. 149.
^Nicholson, William (1808). A Dictionary of Practical and Theoretical Chemistry: With Its Application to the Arts and Manufactures, and to the Explanation of the Phaenomena of Nature...: with Plates and Tables. Richard Phillips. p. 2 R 2.
^Johnson J, Johnson HJ, eds. (1836). "On the Chemical Condition of the Saliva, as an Indication of the difference Morbid Affections of the Stomach". The Medico-chirurgical Review and Journal of Practical Medicine. 24. Richard & George S. Wood: 231, 233.
^Loewy MA (14 March 2023). "Saliva: The next frontier in cancer detection". Knowable Magazine. doi:10.1146/knowable-031323-1. Archived from the original on 24 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
^Wong DT (March 2006). "Salivary diagnostics powered by nanotechnologies, proteomics and genomics". J Am Dent Assoc. 137 (3): 313–21. doi:10.14219/jada.archive.2006.0180. PMID 16570464. S2CID 4828883.
compared to blood testing and other types of diagnostic testing. Additionally, since multiple samples can be readily obtained, salivatesting is particularly...
hair drug testing for cannabis can be as low as 1 pg/mg. Cannabis is detectable by salivatesting. Just like blood testing, salivatesting detects the...
oral fluid/saliva—to determine the presence or absence of specified parent drugs or their metabolites. Major applications of drug testing include detection...
hormone replacement therapy. It may also be combined with blood and salivatesting of hormone levels, and the use of pharmacy compounding to obtain hormones...
research article which led to the development of the SalivaDirect PCR method of testingsaliva for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. She has...
(Staphylococcus saprophyticus), Acinetobacter, or adenovirus. Nitrate testSalivatesting; salivary nitrite levels can serve as a surrogate biomarker for nitric...
The DrugWipe is a test used to wipe surfaces for traces of drug residue. It may also be used for sweat or salivatesting of individuals. DrugWipe was named...
of nitrates, which are first reduced to nitrite in the saliva, as detected in salivatesting, prior to forming nitric oxide. Symptoms of nitrate poisoning...
laboratories in the US and UK, based on the detection of RNA biomarkers in saliva. Once taken off the field of play due to possible concussion, being unconscious...
marijuana. Some nations use saliva swabs to test for THC levels at roadside, but questions remain about the reliability of salivatesting. In the US state of...
known for providing a direct-to-consumer genetic testing service in which customers provide a saliva sample that is laboratory analysed, using single...
Artificial saliva or salivary substitutes refer to a synthetically produced liquid that mimics the natural secretion of saliva. It is designed as a symptomatic...
the mouth, which may be associated with a change in the composition of saliva, or reduced salivary flow, or have no identifiable cause. This symptom is...
in many vertebrates including mammals are exocrine glands that produce saliva through a system of ducts. Humans have three paired major salivary glands...
Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring...
hydrolysis of starch (Latin amylum) into sugars. Amylase is present in the saliva of humans and some other mammals, where it begins the chemical process of...
Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and in vivo testing, is the use of non-human animals in experiments that seek to...
Animals has a DNA salivatest to screen for the mutated gene that has been seen in dogs with degenerative myelopathy. Now that a test is available the...
to offer a saliva-based direct-to-consumer genetic testing. It was also the first to implement the use of autosomal DNA for ancestry testing, which other...
compatibility testing includes blood typing, which detects the antigens on red blood cells that determine a person's blood type; testing for unexpected...
established a clinical testing laboratory, and processed nearly 500,000 tests. The institute has developed a saliva based testing and got emergency approval...
conditions. There is no evidence to support this proposal. Urinary and/or salivatesting for acidity has been proposed as a way to measure the body's acidity...
including testing, clinical work, surveillance, virology, drug development and trials, and PPE. Fast Grants provided initial funding for SalivaDirect, the...
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