Comparative evaluation of salivary, serum and urinary 8-OHdG in gutka-associated oral submucous fibrosis.

Background: Gutka chewing is the most common deleterious oral habit prevalent in the geographical distribution of the Indian subcontinent. Gutka leads to the production of numerous free radicals, which causes oxidative stress in regional oral tissues. Oxidative stress brings about the oxidation of guanine bases of DNA that generates 8-OHdG as its main byproduct. The presence of 8-OHdG can be evaluated not only in tissue but also in saliva, blood and urine. The availability of 8-OHdG in these samples is quite documented. In addition, a comparative assay of 8-ohdg DNA damage marker in multiple samples is yet to be done.

Material and methodology: A sample size of 60 was divided into two groups, i.e., gutka consumers without any lesion and gutka consumers with OSMF. Ten samples each of saliva, serum and urine were collected from these two groups and healthy controls. Samples were centrifuged at 1000 RPM at 2-8°C for 15-20 minutes. A volume of 1.5 ml resultant supernatant was pipetted out in labelled Eppendorf tubes and stored at -80°C. The ELISA test was performed to measure the concentration of 8-OHdG protein in different samples at 450 nm after adding stop solution in 96-well microplate.

Results: 8-OHdG concentration was found to be highest in saliva followed by urine and serum. 8-OHdG concentration in serum was significantly less than that in saliva and urine (P-value <0.05). Intergroup difference in concentration of 8-OHdG of urine, saliva and serum was significant (P-value <0.05). Post hoc analysis revealed that concentration of 8-OHdG in saliva and urine was non-significantly different (P-value >0.05).

Conclusion: Saliva appears to be the most appropriate sample type as compared to serum and urine for the evaluation of 8-OHdG in OSMF subjects.