Can saliva offer an advantage in monitoring of diabetes mellitus? - A case control study

Abstract

Objectives: Diabetes Mellitus is emerging as a major health problem over these years. Present method of blood glucose monitoring by venepuncture is invasive leading to reduced patient compliance and thereby ineffective judicious monitoring. The need of the hour is to direct research in the direction of establishing painless and more acceptable blood glucose analysis method.The objective of the study is to conduct a comparative analysis of the concentrations of salivary glucose and blood glucose in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Study Design: This study assessed glucose levels using the glucose oxidase method in blood and unstimulated saliva in 90 subjects who were divided into 3 equal groups of controlled type 2 diabetes, uncontrolled type 2 diabetes and those without diabetes. Statistical analysis was carried out using one way ANOVA, Post hoc Tukeys tests and Pearson's correlation coefficient test. Results: Salivary glucose levels were significantly higher in patients with diabetes than controls. There was a significant positive correlation between salivary and plasma glucose levels in patients with diabetes. Conclusions: Glucose concentration in saliva is higher in diabetics but hyperglycemia does not influence salivary glucose levels. Further clarification is required to claim the diagnostic potentials of saliva in diabetes.