Salivary aldehyde dehydrogenase activity--influence of drugs intake, preliminary research

The salivary aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH3A1) oxidizes mainly aromatic and long chain aliphatic aldehydes. This enzyme protects organisms from aldehydes originating from food and air pollution, and can also be an important factor in chemical carcinogenesis prevention. In the majority of saliva samples the ALDH3A1 is more than in 60% inactive due to sulfhydryl groups oxidation in the active site. Our previous studies showed that the ALDH3A1 activity (the total activity and the inactivation degree) is strongly variable during a day and within the healthy population. The aim of the present study was to describe the influence of drugs intake on ALDH3A1 activity. Hierarchical clustering grouped two dimensional data (the total ALDH activity, the inactivation degree) derived from a group of 124 subjects into four clusters. Clusters were analyzed by a correspondence analysis. The total ALDH3A1 activity and an inactivation degree vary in healthy subjects depending on many factors including cigarette smoking, alcohol and coffee consumption and age. This work demonstrates that treated hypertension and acute pain/infection as well as hormonal contraceptive drugs intake also significantly affect the salivary ALDH activity. The result is significant for food safety and nutrition research.