Salivary Metabolomics: A Pilot Study for Screening Biomarkers in Mild-to-moderate Periodontitis.

BACKGROUND/AIM: This study aims to identify salivary metabolites that can discriminate patients with mild and moderate periodontitis from healthy controls through comprehensive metabolomic analyses using capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry (CE-MS).

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

Forty healthy controls, 40 patients with mild periodontitis, and 40 patients with moderate periodontitis were enrolled. Whole unstimulated saliva samples were collected from the participants, and CE-MS was used to comprehensively analyze salivary metabolites. Furthermore, a multiple logistic regression (MLR) model was developed using multiple candidate metabolites, and the combinations of metabolites with the highest area under the curve (AUC) were identified.

RESULTS

The concentrations of 34 metabolites significantly differed between the mild/moderate periodontitis group and healthy controls. Of these, three were used to develop the MLR model: O-acetylcarnitine, tyrosine, and histidine. The AUC value based on the combination of these three metabolites was 0.867 (sensitivity: 0.73, specificity: 0.90, 95% confidence interval=0.804-0.929, p<0.001) for discriminating between patients with mild and moderate periodontitis and healthy controls.

CONCLUSION

Salivary metabolites, including O-acetylcarnitine, tyrosine, and histidine, may serve as potential non-invasive biomarkers for mild-to-moderate periodontitis.