title: Salivary glucose concentration exhibits threshold kinetics in normal-weight, overweight, and obese children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Metabolic syndrome in childhood predicts the development of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes (T2D) in adulthood. Testing for features of metabolic syndrome, such as fasting plasma glucose concentration, requires blood sampling which can be difficult in children. Here we evaluated salivary glucose concentration as a surrogate measurement for plasma glucose concentration in 11-year-old US children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children from Portland, Maine, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, with a mean age of 10.6±0.2 years provided 6-hour fasting samples of both blood and whole saliva. Salivary glucose levels were measured with a high-sensitivity assay (sensitivity =0.002 mg/dL). Plasma glucose levels were determined by a commercial clinical laboratory. Blood pressure, salivary flow rate, height, and weight were also measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 65 children enrolled, there were two underweight children (3.1%), 30 normal-weight children (46.2%), 12 overweight children (18.4%), and 21 obese children (32.3%). The mean overall glucose concentrations were 0.11±0.02 mg/dL in saliva and 86.3±0.8 mg/dL in plasma, and these did not differ significantly by body-weight groups. By regression analysis, the plasma concentration equaled 13.5 times the saliva concentration, with a threshold level of 84.8 mg/dL. Salivary glucose values less than threshold plasma concentration were essentially zero. Diagnostic analysis indicated a positive predictive value of 50%, a negative predictive value of 90%, and a sensitivity and specificity both of approximately 75%. The salivary glucose concentration did not vary with saliva flow rate.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Taking into account the threshold response characteristics of the salivary glucose concentration response, these results suggest that testing salivary glucose levels may be useful as a screening assay for high fasting plasma glucose levels. The low false positive value is important to assure a low fraction of missed diagnoses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Oral Sciences, The Forsyth Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Mor-Li
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Hartman
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Oral Sciences, The Forsyth Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: J Max
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Goodson
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, The Dasman Diabetes Institute, Dasman, Kuwait.
authors.forename: Roula
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barake
authors.affiliation: Genome Center, The Dasman Diabetes Institute, Dasman, Kuwait.
authors.forename: Osama
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Alsmadi
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Kuwait City, Kuwait.
authors.forename: Sabiha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Al-Mutawa
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Kuwait City, Kuwait.
authors.forename: Jitendra
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ariga
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Oral Sciences, The Forsyth Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Pramod
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Soparkar
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Dentistry, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait.
authors.forename: Jawad
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Behbehani
authors.affiliation: The Dasman Diabetes Institute, Dasman, Kuwait.
authors.forename: Kazem
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Behbehani
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Francine
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Welty
keywords: children; plasma glucose; saliva; salivary glucose