Markers of Oxidative Stress in the Saliva of Type 2 Diabetic Patients (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND Diabetes mellitus is associated with increased prevalence of oral diseases. Reactive oxygen species have been implicated in the development of these diseases. The saliva contains a balanced proportion of protective antioxidants and reactive oxygen species, disrupting this balance favours disease development. However, level of salivary markers of oxidative stress has not been sufficiently studied in the diabetics. OBJECTIVE Thus, this study aimed to measure salivary H2O2, NO and MDA in diabetic patients in comparison to non-diabetic controls. METHODS A total of 166 adults comprising of 95 Type 2 diabetic patients and 71 healthy non-diabetic controls were recruited for this study. About 3 ml of unstimulated saliva samples were collected from participants after rinsing their mouth with clean water. Levels of H2O2, NO and MDA were measured in all saliva samples using spectrophotometry. Data was analysed using t-test, logistic regression and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) with statistical significance set at p<0.05. RESULTS Salivary H2O2 (p=0.024) and NO (p=0.002) were significantly higher in the diabetic patients when compared to the healthy non-diabetic control group. Binary logistic regression showed that patients with Type 2 diabetic mellitus are more likely to have elevated salivary H2O2 (OR= 1.013; p=0.025) and NO (OR=1.016; p=0.003) levels. ROC analysis showed statistically significant performance of salivary NO levels in distinguishing between T2DM patients and healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS Higher levels of salivary H2O2 and NO could be a pointer to the high prevalence of oral diseases in diabetes mellitus. This calls for increased attention to oral health in diabetes management.