Abstract
BackgroundMuscle enzymes in saliva have been reported to be possible markers of heart and muscle damage in humans. The aim of this study was to assess if Creatine kinase (CK) and Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities could be measured in canine saliva, and to evaluate their possible changes in situations of muscle damage.ResultsThe spectrophotometric assays for CK and AST measurement in saliva of dogs showed intra- and inter-assay imprecision lower than 1 and 16% and coefficients of correlation close to 1 in linearity under dilution tests. Healthy dogs showed activities in saliva of CK between 27 and 121 U/L and AST between 46 and 144 U/L, whereas in saliva of dogs with muscle damage CK ranged between 132 and 3862 U/L and AST between 154 and 4340 U/L. Positive moderate correlations were found between saliva and serum activities of the two enzymes (CK, r = 0.579; P = 0.001; AST, r = 0.674; P = 0.001).ConclusionsCK and AST activities can be measured in canine saliva with commercially available spectrophotometric assays. In addition these enzymes show higher values in saliva of dogs with muscle damage and their values are moderately correlated with those of serum.
Highlights
Muscle enzymes in saliva have been reported to be possible markers of heart and muscle damage in humans
The objective of the present study was to assess if Creatine kinase (CK) and AST activities could be measured in canine saliva, and to evaluate their possible changes after processes that cause muscle damage
Assays CK was measured by a commercial kit (Beckman Coulter, Brea, USA) based on the quantification of the NADPH formation derived from the action of CK on creatin phosphate as recommended by the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry (IFCC) [18]
Summary
Muscle enzymes in saliva have been reported to be possible markers of heart and muscle damage in humans. Saliva, especially in human medicine, has gained considerable attention as a possible alternate fluid to blood and urinary analysis [1] with a growing scientific literature describing the use of salivary biomarkers to determine diabetic and cardiac related risk factors, Creatine kinase (CK) and Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) are two enzymes found in cytoplasm of muscle cells They are considered to be markers of muscle cell damage, and an increase in these enzymes in serum may be an indicator of muscle stress or damage due to exercise [8,9,10] or muscle injuries [11, 12]. In humans CK has been measured in saliva and it was indicated that plasma could be its main source [15]
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