Lipids in human saliva

Abstract

A simple and reproducible method of determining the quality and quantity of neutral lipids in human saliva was tested. Parotid, submandibular and whole stimulated saliva were collected from 10 healthy adults. The lipids were extracted by the Folch method. A special method for extraction of glycolipids was also tested but gave no additional recovery. Thin-layer chromatography was used for separating the different lipid classes. The concentrations of total lipids in parotid, submandibular and whole stimulated saliva were 0.2, 0.9 and 1.3 mg/dl, respectively. Cholesteryl esters, cholesterol, triglycerides, diglycerides, monoglycerides and free fatty acids accounted for 96–99% of the total salivary lipids. Thus, polar lipids such as phospholipids contributed only a minor fraction, indicating that the lipids are not primarily of membrane origin. Ultracentrifugation of saliva samples at d = 1.21 g ml −1 showed that the salivary lipids did not float like blood plasma lipoproteins. Therefore, they must be in a different state of aggregation from lipids in blood or lymph. No significant lipase activity of the type that acts on plasma lipoproteins was found in parotid or submandibular saliva. The content of free fatty acids and partial glycerides was high.