Can Saliva be a Marker for Predicting Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus?-A Pilot Study

Abstract

Aim: To estimate and correlate salivary glucose levels with serum glucose levels in type 1 diabetes mellitus patients and healthy controls. Materials and methods: Fifty type 1 diagnosed diabetes mellitus patients and 50 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were included in the study. The fasting whole saliva was collected over ice with 0.1% w/v sodium fluoride and fasting venous blood samples were collected with 20 µl of sodium fluoride. The samples were analyzed for glucose by using autoanalyzer. The results were analyzed statistically using unpaired t-test, Chi-square test and Pearson’s correlation test. Results: Significant correlation was obtained between salivary and serum glucose in type 1 diabetic patients and in control group. The levels of salivary glucose did not vary with age and gender of the patient in type 1 diabetes patients. Conclusion: As there was a highly significant correlation between serum glucose level and salivary glucose level in both type 1 diabetics the salivary glucose serves as a valuable noninvasive tool which has the potential of being a marker in diagnosing and monitoring diabetes mellitus.