Salivary Tryptophan as a Metabolic Marker of HER2-Negative Molecular Subtypes of Breast Cancer
Sarf et al.
The finding, in our words
Salivary tryptophan is significantly raised in HER2‑negative breast cancer and falls after tumour removal, correlating with aggressive disease features. This shows saliva can provide a non‑invasive metabolic marker for screening and monitoring breast cancer 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 study developed a fluorescence probe for detecting histidine in saliva, demonstrating high sensitivity and specificity for cancer risk screening. The probe showed excellent recovery in real saliva samples and feasibility for point-of-care use in home or resource-limited settings.
Indongo et al., The Analyst (paywalled) · source ↗
This study validated a low-cost 3D-printed smartphone attachment and paper sensor for measuring glucose, uric acid and cholesterol in saliva, demonstrating high correlation with standard ELISA results in a small clinical cohort. The authors suggest this platform offers a scalable solution for decentralised diabetes management by balancing sensitivity with affordability.
Yang et al., Biosensors & bioelectronics (paywalled) · source ↗
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 ↗
Using a synthetic swab for saliva collection gave results closest to no swab for both resting and stimulated samples, indicating minimal pre-analytical interference. The widest metabolite coverage was achieved with ACN:MeOH at 1:1 v/v and a ZIC-HILIC column for polar metabolites plus a C18 column for non-polar metabolites, and resting versus stimulated saliva yielded distinct metabolic profiles that may provide complementary clinical insights.
Michorowska et al., International journal of molecular sciences · source ↗
In people at high risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, saliva showed decreased EBV load and increased EBV DNA methylation compared with controls, and a stepwise strategy that adds saliva testing to serum EBV antibodies improved triage efficiency.