2025 · Molecular genetics and metabolism · paywalled
The mitochondrial disease biomarker GDF15 is dynamic, quantifiable in saliva, and correlates with disease severity
Huang et al.
The finding, in our words
Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) is significantly elevated in both plasma and saliva of patients with mitochondrial disease, and saliva GDF15 levels correlate with disease severity. This supports saliva as a patient-centric matrix for decentralised disease monitoring, potentially reducing the need for venous blood draws.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
This review establishes that microsampling across blood, saliva, urine and stool matrices offers validated workflows and regulatory recognition for human biomonitoring comparable to conventional methods. It finds that these decentralised approaches enhance participant acceptability and enable screening in remote or low-resource settings.
In 20 adults, CRP measured in urine and saliva strongly correlated with serum CRP (Spearman rho 0.886) and was significantly elevated in participants with systemic inflammation compared with controls, suggesting these noninvasive matrices could replace venipuncture for monitoring inflammatory status in remote or at-home settings.
Capillary blood collected by non-medical personnel and saliva both showed elevated cell-free nuclear DNA after psychosocial and physical stress in women and men, while mitochondrial DNA fragments did not respond consistently. This supports cf-nDNA as a potential decentralised biomarker for acute stress responses, though mechanisms of release remain unclear.
Limberg et al., Translational psychiatry · source ↗
A graphene lab-on-a-chip device achieved high accuracy and precision for multiplex renal biomarker testing in serum and saliva, with sensitivities ranging from 89.0 to 99.7 per cent. Untrained volunteers produced results comparable to trained chemists, suggesting the device is suitable for patient-centric at-home diagnostics and could improve access to chronic kidney disease monitoring.
Diforti et al., Analytical chemistry (paywalled) · source ↗
Noninvasive salivary measurements of creatinine, cystatin C and urea, and fingerstick capillary blood testing, can approximate gold‑standard laboratory results for kidney function. This could enable more frequent, home‑based monitoring to detect CKD progression and AKI episodes without the burdens of conventional venepuncture and laboratory processing.
Beshay et al., Current opinion in nephrology and hypertension (paywalled) · source ↗