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Collecting Saliva and Measuring Salivary Cortisol and Alpha-amylase in Frail Community Residing Older Adults via Family Caregivers
Published on: December 18, 2013
α-2-macroglobulin in saliva is associated with glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus
Juan Pablo Aitken1, Carolina Ortiz2, Irene Morales-Bozo2
1Departamento de Patología y Medicina oral, Facultad de Odontología, Universidad de Chile, 8380492 Santiago, Chile.
Background:
Subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) require an adequate glycemic control to avoid diabetic complications. Currently, saliva biomarkers are used as a diagnostic tool and can be indicative of the degree of progression and control of various diseases. Several studies indicate that α-2-macroglobulin levels are elevated in diabetic patients.
Methods:
120 subjects with DM2 were enrolled and classified into two groups according to their glycemic control (percentage of glycated hemoglobin-A1c (HbA1c), <7% adequate glycemic control group; >7% inadequate glycemic control group). The relationship between α-2-macroglobulin levels from saliva samples and HbA1c was subsequently evaluated.
Results:
We found a positive correlation between α-2-macroglobulin and HbA1c (r = 0.778 and P < 0.0001). Area under the receivers operating characteristic (ROC) curve of α-2-macroglobulin indicated a positive discrimination threshold of α-2-macroglobulin (AUC = 0.903, CI 95%: 0.847-0.959, P < 0.0001) to diagnose glycemic control.
Conclusions:
Our data strongly suggest that the level of saliva α-2-macroglobulin is an indicator for the degree of glycemic control in diabetic patients and represents a promising alternative method to evaluate this parameter.
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