DIAGNOSTIC POTENTIAL OF SELECTED SALIVARY PROTEOMICS FOR AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM ACTIVITY ASSESSMENT

Abstract

The clinical assessment of autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning, enabling the diagnosis of autonomic neuropathy present in the course of many diseases, is currently based on performing simple cardiovascular reflexes (Ewing tests), analyzing heart rate variability (HRV) or heart rate turbulence (HRT), examining skin sweating or recording neurophysiological tests (e.g. microneurography). Laboratory assessment of ANS function is very scarce and practically only includes the plasma assessment of noradrenaline as a surrogate for the biochemical indicator of sympathetic activity. Recently, the possibility of evaluation of selected compounds present in saliva as laboratory markers of not only oral diseases but also systemic diseases has been raised. This work focuses on a brief description of the anatomy and physiology of the salivary glands and describes the formation of saliva, its composition and the use of this bodily fluid in laboratory diagnostics. In addition, the paper specifically discusses the possibility of determining selected compounds that are considered to reflect autonomic activity. A review of the literature indicates primarily four proteomics: two neuropeptides (vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) that are co-transmitters in autonomic fibers, chromogranin A, a synaptic vesicle protein and α-amylase, a hydrolytic enzyme pre-digesting carbohydrates in the oral cavity. These are currently the most widely investigated agents for their usefulness as laboratory markers of ANS activity.