Association of asparagine in saliva with a lower risk of early childhood caries in undernourished children: a cross-sectional study.

AIM: The aim was to investigate the salivary amino acid profile in children with protein-energy undernutrition (PEU) and its association with caries experience in the presence of other risk factors.

METHODS

The study had a cross-sectional design and was carried out with 122 children (12-71 months old), classified according to their level of undernutrition (mild-GI, n = 22; moderate-GII, n = 53) or healthy controls (GC, n = 47). The children were categorized based on the presence of caries into caries-experienced groups (ceos > 0, 22 CG, 12 GI and 18 GII) and caries-free groups (ceos = 0, 25 CG, 10 GI and 36 GII). Total unstimulated and stimulated saliva were collected to determine amino acids and Streptococcus mutans, respectively.

RESULTS

Eighteen amino acids were associated with PEU. Undernutrition and caries experience influenced the presence of the following amino acids: L-anserine, asparagine, ethanolamine, gamma-aminobutyric acid, and norleucine. Asparagine was a significant predictor of a lower probability of caries experience in a logistic regression model.

CONCLUSIONS

Salivary amino acids are associated with undernutrition in children, and the presence of asparagine in saliva relates to a lower caries risk.