Salivary Protein Profile and Food Intake: A Dietary Pattern Analysis.

Teresa Louro,Carla Simões,Elsa Lamy,Pedro Moreira,Henrique Luis,Wilmara Lima,Paula Midori Castelo,Laura Carreira,Roxana Valdés-Ramos

doi:10.1155/2021/6629951

Abstract

Saliva research has gained interest due to its potential as a source of biomarkers. One of the factors inducing changes in saliva, in the short term, is food intake, and evidence exist about changes in salivary proteome induced by some food components. Since this topic of research is in its early stages, it was hypothesized that saliva protein composition could be associated with different levels of adherence to dietary patterns that contain higher amounts of plant products. The aim of the present study was to test this hypothesis, in adults, by comparing salivary protein electrophoretic profiles of individuals with different diet characteristics, particularly dietary patterns (DP) that exhibit different proportions of animal and plant-based products. Dietary habits were assessed in 122 adults (61 from each sex, with ages ranging from 20 to 59 years) using Food Frequency Questionnaires. To identify the dietary patterns, a principal component analysis was used. Individual's non-stimulated saliva was evaluated for flow rate, pH, protein concentration, α-amylase activity, and electrophoretic protein profiles. Seven dietary patterns (DP) were identified. Salivary amylase enzymatic activity was positively associated with animal-based and starchy foods DP, and with plant-based fatty foods without wine DP. At the same time, protein bands containing amylase and type S cystatins were positively associated with the cheese/yoghurt and wine DP. Our results support the association of salivary proteomics and different dietary patterns and highlight the need of considering food consumption habits in studies using saliva, since this is a factor associated with variations in the composition of this fluid.

Highlights

IntroductionDue to global climate changes and the rise of food-related diseases (e.g., obesity, cardiovascular diseases, etc.), dietary patterns are becoming a major issue
Nowadays, due to global climate changes and the rise of food-related diseases, dietary patterns are becoming a major issue
Different methodologies are used to access dietary habits, most of which rely on subjective reports by individuals, which implies engagement and memory capacities [1], which may result in increased error in the data obtained

Summary

Introduction

Due to global climate changes and the rise of food-related diseases (e.g., obesity, cardiovascular diseases, etc.), dietary patterns are becoming a major issue. Individuals often misreport dietary intake, expressing what they believe to be adequate eating amounts, this misreport being even more frequent for people with a history of dieting and being overweight [2, 3]. For this reason, objective biomarkers identification continues to be important to increase accuracy of dietary intake assessment. Some biological markers have been tentatively assessed, with reports of urinary biomarkers of total protein [4], coffee and tea [5] or garlic intake [6], as well as plasmatic biomarkers of fruit and vegetable intake [7], among others, having been used.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion