A concise assessment of salivary modifications in patients with chronic hepatitis

Abstract

Background. Saliva is a complex biological fluid that has great potential as a diagnosis fluid for both oral and systemic diseases. At the same time, chronic hepatitis affects millions of people worldwide and can lead to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. In this context, our research group aimed to evaluate the modifications produced in the saliva of patients with chronic hepatitis compared to healthy subjects. Material and method. The present work included 88 subjects that were divided into 4 groups, each consisting of 22 people. Saliva samples were collected for each participant to the study. Salivary levels of total protein (TP), IgA, IgG and aminotransferases AST (aspartate aminotransferase) and ALT (alanine aminotransferase) were determined. Results. Our results showed significantly increased salivary levels of TP, IgA, AST and ALT for patients with chronic viral hepatitis (CHV) and chronic alcoholic hepatitis (CAH) compared to controls. IgG salivary levels were also higher in patients with hepatitis versus controls, however while statistical significance could be found for patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) and CAH, this was not the case for the patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Conclusions. The results of our study showed significantly increased salivary levels of the determined parameters in hepatitis patients compared to the healthy subjects, hence promoting the use of saliva as a diagnosis and monitoring fluid for chronic hepatitis.