Single-Use Electrochemical Aptamer-Based Sensors for Calibration-Free Measurements in Human Saliva via Dual-Frequency Approaches: Prospects and Challenges
Liu et al.
The finding, in our words
The authors developed disposable, calibration-free electrochemical aptamer-based sensors for detecting cocaine in human saliva collected via an oral swab workflow, achieving low micromolar sensitivity with results in under five minutes, and found that food and drink residues in saliva can compromise sensor accuracy.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
Saliva samples collected using the OMNIgene ORAL device and oral wash samples remain stable for microbiome diversity and relative abundance analyses for up to five years when stored at -80°C. This supports the use of these self-collection methods for long-term prospective biobanking and decentralised clinical studies.
Single unstimulated whole saliva measurements show high physiological variability, but averaging repeated self-collected samples, particularly in the evening, improves diagnostic reliability. This validation supports the implementation of home-based saliva testing for salivary gland dysfunction.
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.
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.
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.