TY - JOUR
T1 - Salivary Enzymatic Activity and Carious Experience in Children
T2 - A Cross-Sectional Study
AU - Vacaru, Raluca-Paula
AU - Didilescu, Andreea Cristiana
AU - Constantinescu, Ileana
AU - Mărunțelu, Ion
AU - Tănase, Mihaela
AU - Stanciu, Ioana Andreea
AU - Kaman, Wendy Esmeralda
AU - Brand, Hendrik Simon
N1 - Funding Information: This work was partially supported by a grant of the Ministry of Research and Innova-tion. This research was funded by CNCS—UEFISCDI, project number PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2016-0506, within PNCDI III and by University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Carol Davila”, Contract no. 23 PFE/17.10.2018 funded by the Ministry of Research and Innovation within PNCDI III, Program 1—Development of the National RD system, Subprogram 1.2—Institutional Performance—RDI excellence funding projects. Funding Information: Funding: This work was partially supported by a grant of the Ministry of Research and Innovation. This research was funded by CNCS—UEFISCDI, project number PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2016-0506, within PNCDI III and by University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Carol Davila”, Contract no. 23 PFE/17.10.2018 funded by the Ministry of Research and Innovation within PNCDI III, Program 1—Development of the National RD system, Subprogram 1.2—Institutional Performance—RDI excellence funding projects. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2022/3/1
Y1 - 2022/3/1
N2 - Salivary biomolecules are considered important modulators of the oral microflora, with a potential subsequent impact on dental health. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between salivary enzymatic activity and carious experience in children. The carious experience of a sample of 22 school children was evaluated by calculating dmf/DMF indices, following WHO recommendations. Unstimulated whole saliva was collected, and salivary alpha-amylase levels, total protease activity, and matrix metalloproteinase levels (MMP-8 and MMP-9) were measured. The data were analyzed using parametric and nonparametric tests. Our findings revealed no significant relationship between the investigated salivary parameters and the carious experience in permanent teeth (DMFT/DMFS scores). Carious indices scores for primary teeth (dmft and dmfs) were positively associated with MMP-8 levels (r = 0.62, p = 0.004 and rs = 0.61, p = 0.006, respectively) and MMP-9 levels (r = 0.45, p = 0.05 and rs = 0.48, p = 0.039, respectively) and negatively associated with alpha-amylase levels (rs = −0.54, p = 0.017 and rs = −0.59, p = 0.006, respectively). Although with a marginal significance, PEK−054 levels positively correlated with dental caries, while for PFU−089, a negative correlation was observed. These results suggest that salivary alpha-amylase and MMP-8 and MMP-9 levels may be considered potential indicators of carious experience in children. Further studies with a prospective design are needed in order to elucidate the role of these biomolecules in caries development.
AB - Salivary biomolecules are considered important modulators of the oral microflora, with a potential subsequent impact on dental health. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between salivary enzymatic activity and carious experience in children. The carious experience of a sample of 22 school children was evaluated by calculating dmf/DMF indices, following WHO recommendations. Unstimulated whole saliva was collected, and salivary alpha-amylase levels, total protease activity, and matrix metalloproteinase levels (MMP-8 and MMP-9) were measured. The data were analyzed using parametric and nonparametric tests. Our findings revealed no significant relationship between the investigated salivary parameters and the carious experience in permanent teeth (DMFT/DMFS scores). Carious indices scores for primary teeth (dmft and dmfs) were positively associated with MMP-8 levels (r = 0.62, p = 0.004 and rs = 0.61, p = 0.006, respectively) and MMP-9 levels (r = 0.45, p = 0.05 and rs = 0.48, p = 0.039, respectively) and negatively associated with alpha-amylase levels (rs = −0.54, p = 0.017 and rs = −0.59, p = 0.006, respectively). Although with a marginal significance, PEK−054 levels positively correlated with dental caries, while for PFU−089, a negative correlation was observed. These results suggest that salivary alpha-amylase and MMP-8 and MMP-9 levels may be considered potential indicators of carious experience in children. Further studies with a prospective design are needed in order to elucidate the role of these biomolecules in caries development.
KW - Alpha-amylase
KW - Children
KW - Dental caries
KW - Matrix metalloproteinase
KW - Saliva
KW - Total protease activity
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85125959095&origin=inward
UR - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35327715
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85125959095&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85125959095&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.3390/children9030343
DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/children9030343
M3 - Article
C2 - 35327715
SN - 2227-9067
VL - 9
SP - 1
EP - 12
JO - Children
JF - Children
IS - 3
M1 - 343
ER -