Blood specimens are still the most frequently used samples for general health state monitoring and specific diagnostic analytes detection. However, blood specimen collection is invasive, can be impractical for people with blood or injection phobia and for those who require day by day monitoring of biomarker levels. In healthcare professionals drawing blood carries the risk for percutaneous injuries and self-contagion.
Contemporary approach to health and disease encourages the development of new diagnostic approaches that are essentially non-invasive. Among the non-invasive organic fluids, saliva is one of the most preferable and practical specimens for general and oral health monitoring as it is readily available and easily collected and stored. …show more content…
Saliva serves as a valuable diagnostic fluid for the early detection of different cancers such as oral cancer, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, lung cancer and gastric cancer. Salivary diagnostics is also used in cardiology, in risk evaluation for cardiovascular diseases in people with insulin resistance or for acute miocardial infarction. In patients with cystic fibrosis increased levels of prostaglandins and decreased concentrations of protease enzyme were recorded in saliva. The changes in hormones such as cortisol, alpha-amylase and glutathion in anxiety disorders, persons with intellectual disability, ADHD, autism and dental phobia has been clearly demonstrated. In addition, an extensive variety of stressors have been investigated in occupational and environmental medicine. Since testosterone in saliva is free, unbound with proteins, the use of saliva for its determination is completely justified and recently, determinations of testosterone levels are widely used in evaluating the extent of aggression, depression, violence, and antisocial behavior in psychiatric patients. Finally, saliva is used to screen the levels of aldosterone, parathyroid hormone, glucose, and