2021 · Journal of separation science · open access
Saliva, a bodily fluid with recognized and potential diagnostic applications
Boroumand et al.
The finding, in our words
Saliva is a validated diagnostic matrix for steroids, hormones, therapeutic drugs and drugs of abuse that can be collected non-invasively by patients at home. The review stresses that rigorous collection, handling and storage protocols are critical to prevent false results in decentralised settings.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
This review summarises the use of saliva as a non-invasive diagnostic fluid for systemic diseases, toxicology, therapeutic drug monitoring and neuropsychiatric disorders. It concludes that the ease of self-collection makes saliva particularly suitable for psychiatric patients who may struggle to cooperate with venous sampling.
This study found that salivary 11-dehydrodexamethasone correlates strongly with serum dexamethasone, unlike salivary dexamethasone which shows poor agreement. This validation suggests patients could self-collect saliva samples at home to verify dexamethasone absorption for the overnight suppression test.
Marshall et al., The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism (paywalled) · source ↗
The analysis indicates that dried blood spots and volumetric absorptive microsampling enable minimally invasive monitoring of prohibited substances, with volumetric absorptive microsampling offering improved quantitative reliability over traditional dried spots.
This study used home self-collected saliva samples to successfully monitor cytokines and cortisol in mothers and infants, finding that a community singing intervention significantly reduced salivary interleukin-6 levels in mothers with postnatal depression.
Kirkpatrick et al., Brain, behavior, and immunity (paywalled) · source ↗
This study validated a lateral flow fluorescence assay using quantum dots for saliva and europium nanoparticles for serum to detect cortisol within physiological ranges. The test operates in 15 minutes with a handheld reader, supporting point-of-care and at-home monitoring without a cold chain.
Bruno et al., Journal of fluorescence (paywalled) · source ↗