Features of saliva diagnostics and threshold gustometry in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Abstract

Objective — to determine the features of dental complaints and the threshold of taste sensitivity of the tongue receptors to glucose in patients with non‑alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) against the background of insulin resistance.
 Materials and methods. The study included 65 patients (29 (44.6 %) women and 36 (55.4 %) men) with NAFLD (the main group) and 24 somatically healthy subjects. The mean body mass index was 36.4 kg/m2 in the main group, and 22.8 kg/m2 in the controls. All patients had insulin resistance (НОМА index — 8.0). Dental examinations included questionnaires of patients with complaints’ detailing, clinical examination of the oral cavity, study of salivation rate, determination of the sensitivity of the taste receptors of the tongue to glucose by the method of gustometry.
 Results. It has been established that the mostly frequent complaints of patients in the main group were constant dry mouth, taste distortion and halitosis. They demonstrated a decrease in salivation rate up to 0.24 ± 0.13 ml per minute, changes in the taste sensitivity of the tongue to sweet, that was several times higher than the threshold of the physiological norm. The strong direct correlation has been proved between oral dryness and salivation rate. Correlations of moderate strength were confirmed between the secretion rate and glucose concentration according to gustometry, and between taste distortion and halitosis.
 Conclusions. Almost 90 % of patients with non‑alcoholic fatty liver disease have typical dental complaints. Questioning patients on the main dental complaints, studying the parameters of the oral fluid and threshold gustometry are the modern, non‑invasive methods, enabling the control of the disease course and assessment of the treatment efficacy.