title: Thiocyanate levels in human saliva: quantitation by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.
abstract: A new quantitative method, based on Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, was developed to evaluate the thiocyanate concentration in human saliva. Saliva samples were collected following a typical protocol and infrared spectra obtained from very small volumes (5 microl) deposited on a barium fluoride substrate. Exogenous potassium thiocyanate was used for calibration of the endogenous thiocyanate. This methodology does not require separation or extraction procedures. Human saliva spectra contain a characteristic marker band, due to thiocyanate, at 2058 cm-1. The integrated area of this band can be used for linear regression analysis and provides a good correlation between band area and thiocyanate concentration. Recovery of thiocyanate added to saliva was 100%. Centrifugation and dialysis experiments demonstrated that thiocyanate in saliva exists as a free or loosely bound ion. Saliva collected in the afternoon from 25 different subjects had a thiocyanate concentration of 0.83 +/- 0.42 (mean +/- SD) mmol/liter. In 4 subjects whose circadian pattern was investigated there was evidence of a higher thiocyanate concentration in saliva samples collected in the morning hours.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biodiagnostics, National Research Council of Canada, 435 Ellice Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3B 1Y6.
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Schultz
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dawes
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Mantsch
mesh_terms: D003485:Cyanates / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared / Q000379:methods*; D013861:Thiocyanates / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D003485:Cyanates; D013861:Thiocyanates; C024835:potassium cyanate; C031760:thiocyanate