Influence of salivary tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) concentration in patients with dysgeusia induced by antineoplastic chemotherapy: A case-control study

Abstract

Objectives

The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of TNF-α by investigating salivary levels and their influence on Dysgeusia in patients undergoing chemotherapy for breast tumors.

Design

Clinicopathological and sociodemographic data, taste test results and subjective taste analysis, salivary flow, quality of life, ECOG performance status, body mass index (BMI), body surface area and other side effects were recorded. The saliva obtained was stored at −80 ºC after addition of the protease inhibitor (Sigma; P2714–1BTLL), salivary TNF-α was measured using the TNF-alpha ELISA kit for human (ELH-TNFa-5, RayBio®) following the manufacturer's recommendation. The data was analyzed using Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Mann-Whitney, Spearman and Wilcoxon chi-square/Fisher's exact tests with all analyses adopted a 95 % confidence level in the SPSS for Windows software.

Results

The group without dysgeusia (WD) had a longer chemotherapy time than the group with dysgeusia (D) (p < 0.001) and a higher frequency of toxicity during CT than the D group (p = 0.012), the mean BMI increased slightly from 28.16 ± 5.34–28.30 ± 5.39 (p = 0.016), an increase which only occurred in the WD patients (p = 0.030) and not in the D patients (p = 0.106). There was a correlation with taste parameters, with an inversion between salivary TNF-α levels and the taste test (p = 0.033, r = -0.288). In the control group, salivary TNF-α concentration was directly correlated with VAS scale scores (p = 0.044, r = 0.266).

Conclusions

The increase in salivary TNF alpha had a direct impact on gustatory tests, and the development of dysgeusia has a negative impact on the quality of life of patients undergoing antineoplastic treatment.