2014 · American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · paywalled
The effect of age on DNA concentration from whole saliva: implications for the standard isolation method
Gassó et al.
The finding, in our words
DNA concentration from whole saliva correlates positively with age, so children yield significantly less DNA than adults. This means saliva collection protocols for genetic studies must be adjusted for paediatric populations to ensure adequate DNA quantity for genotyping.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
Using the Oragene saliva device, this study identified elevated CYP2C8 allele frequencies in a Saudi paediatric cohort compared to other Asian populations, suggesting potential variability in ibuprofen metabolism and drug response.
Using the Oragene Discovery 500 series for decentralised saliva collection in 524 African American adolescents, this study found that positive neighbourhood conditions relate to fewer behavioural difficulties, despite genetic risk. The authors note that most gene-environment studies of behaviour use European ancestry samples, limiting generalisability to African American youth.
This proof-of-principle study found that baseline salivary DNA methylation, collected using the Oragene DNA kit, predicted childhood obesity three years later. A child at the 75th percentile of NRF1 methylation had a 48% chance of obesity versus 30% at the 25th percentile, showing the value of salivary microsampling for paediatric screening.
Telomere length measurements vary significantly depending on the sample type used, with Oragene saliva showing a moderate correlation to venous buffy coat, whereas Oasis saliva and dried blood spots did not yield comparable or adequate results for this assay.
A study of 307 youth aged 10 to 14 years found that DNA extracted from saliva collected with Oragene kits was suitable for genotyping the OXTR rs53576 variant. This supports decentralised paediatric genetic testing, although the study was limited by its reliance on a community sample.