An Evaluation of Applicability of Salivary Uric Acid Measurement in Preeclampsia and Normal Pregnancy and Its Correlation with Serum Uric Acid

Serum MUC3 Protein as a Novel Marker of Gestational Hypertensive Disorders

Background

This study aimed to investigate the serum levels of mucoprotein 3 in hypertensive diseases of pregnancy.

Methods

In total, 60 consecutive women with gestational hypertensive diseases (gestational hypertension (n = 20), severe preeclampsia (n = 20), HELLP syndrome (n = 20)) and 20 pregnant women without any gestational hypertensive diseases were included for this prospective controlled study. Serum MUC3 protein levels were measured with commercially available ELISA kits.

Results

Serum MUC3 protein level was the lowest in normal pregnant women (0.1047 ± 0.0295 ng/ml); while the severity of the disease increases, it significantly increased in severe preeclampsia (0.2700 ± 0.0199 ng/mL) and HELLP syndrome group (0.3494 ± 0.0455 ng/mL), but less in the gestational hypertension (0.2172 ± 0.0354 ng/mL) group. Mean serum MUC3 protein level differences were found the least in gestational hypertension (0.1125 ± 0.0107, p < 0.001), the most in HELLP syndrome (-0.2546 ± 0.0107, p < 0.001) compared with the pregnant control group.

Conclusion

The increase in serum MUC3 protein concentration in these women supported the argument that serum MUC3 protein may be used as a marker indicating the severity of the gestational hypertensive diseases.

Digital Quantification Method for Sensitive Point-of-Care Detection of Salivary Uric Acid Using Smartphone-Assisted μPADs

Uric acid (UA) is an important biomarker for many diseases. A sensitive point-of-care (POC) testing platform is designed for the digital quantification of salivary UA based on a colorimetric reaction on an easy-to-build smartphone-assisted microfluidic paper-based analytical device (SμPAD). UA levels are quantified according to the color intensity of Prussian blue on the SμPAD with the aid of a MATLAB code or a smartphone APP. A color correction method is specifically applied to exclude the light effect. Together with the engineering design of SμPADs, the background calibration function with the APP increases the UA sensitivity by 100-fold to reach 0.1 ppm with a linear range of 0.1-200 ppm. The assay time is less than 10 min. SμPADs demonstrate a correlation of 0.97 with a commercial UA kit for the detection of salivary UA in clinical samples. SμPADs provide a sensitive, fast, affordable, and reliable tool for the noninvasive POC quantification of salivary UA for early diagnosis of abnormal UA level-associated health conditions.

Role of Salivary Uric Acid Versus Serum Uric Acid in Predicting Maternal Complications of Pre-Eclampsia in a Rural Hospital in Central India: A Two-Year, Cross-Sectional Study

Background

Hypertensive disorders during pregnancy are an important topic of concern, specifically in rural and remote areas of India where there is a lack of awareness and it is difficult to maintain proper follow-up of pregnant females to screen them for complications developed during pregnancy. Gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia result in the abruption of the placenta, hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low platelet count syndrome, eclampsia, and disseminated intravascular coagulation, which can be a serious threat to the health of the mother and the fetus. Therefore, it is important to identify biomarkers for diagnosing and predicting the complications of pre-eclampsia that may aid the obstetric high-dependency units based in rural areas to tackle this important health hazard during pregnancy.

Methodology

A total of 180 singleton pregnant women of more than 34 weeks of gestational age were enrolled in this study. All women were divided into three groups (control group, severe pre-eclampsia, and non-severe pre-eclampsia) based on the severity of blood pressure and the presence of proteinuria (≥+1 by the dipstick method). Salivary and serum uric acid levels were measured through morning samples, and all patients were monitored for the development of complications and outcomes. Salivary uric acid and serum uric acid levels were correlated with each other and with maternal complications of pre-eclampsia.

Results

Mean salivary uric acid (mg/dL) in severe pre-eclampsia was (6.72 ± 0.49) significantly higher compared to non-severe pre-eclampsia (4.75 ± 0.94) and control (3.13 ± 0.43). Mean serum uric acid (mg/dL) in severe pre-eclampsia was (8.13 ± 0.87) significantly higher compared to non-severe pre-eclampsia (6.23 ± 0.76) and control (3.85 ± 0.46).The lowest best cut-off value of maternal salivary uric acid was 5.06 mg/dL, above which one can predict maternal complications with a diagnostic accuracy of 78.33%.

Conclusions

Salivary uric acid and serum uric acid levels are significantly raised in cases of pre-eclampsia in comparison to normal pregnancy. Salivary uric acid and serum uric acid are correlated significantly indicating that salivary uric acid can function as a cost-effective, novel marker to provide an idea about serum uric acid levels. The prognostic accuracy of salivary uric acid was good in predicting maternal complications among cases of pre-eclampsia (severe and non-servere) and early-onset maternal complications. Therefore, it may be utilized as a helpful marker to identify high-risk patients.

Characterizing and Evaluating Diurnal Salivary Uric Acid Across Pregnancy Among Healthy Women

Uric acid levels during pregnancy have been examined as a potential indicator of risk for gestational diabetes mellites, hypertension, and related adverse birth outcomes. However, evidence supporting the utility of serum uric acid levels in predicting poor maternal and fetal health has been mixed. The lack of consistent findings may be due to limitations inherent in serum-based biomeasure evaluations, such as minimal repeated assessments and variability in the timing of these assessments. To address these gaps, we examined repeated measurements of diurnal salivary uric acid (sUA) levels in a sample of 44 healthy women across early-mid and late pregnancy. We assessed potential covariates and confounds of sUA levels and diurnal trajectories, as well as associations between maternal weight gain and blood pressure during pregnancy and sUA concentrations. Using multilevel linear models, we found sUA increased across pregnancy and displayed a robust diurnal pattern with the highest concentrations at waking, a steep decline in the early morning, and decreasing levels across the day. Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI, age, prior-night sleep duration, and fetal sex were associated with sUA levels and/or diurnal slopes. Maternal blood pressure and gestational weight gain also showed significant associations with sUA levels across pregnancy. Our results expand upon those found with serum UA measurements. Further, they demonstrate the feasibility of using at-home, minimally-invasive saliva sampling procedures to track UA levels across pregnancy with potential applications for the long-term monitoring of maternal cardiometabolic risk.

Utility of serum and salivary lactate dehydrogenase and uric acid levels as a diagnostic profile in oral squamous cell carcinoma patients

Background

Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), an intra-cellular enzyme present in all cells of the body, catalyses the final step of anaerobic glycolysis. This intra-cellular enzyme is released into the extra-cellular space after tissue disintegration, which is evident in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). However, investigations comparing Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels in OSCC and healthy controls have shown conflicting findings in both serum and saliva samples. Further, Uric acid's anti-oxidant activity has been demonstrated in several diseases. Several cancers have been linked to increased uric acid levels. However, uric acid levels in oral squamous cell cancer have varied. There exists limitted research comparing serum and salivary uric acid with OSCC. Thus, the present investigation was conducted to evaluate the combined diagnostic abilities of serum and salivary LDH and uric acid in OSCC.

Aim and Objective

To compare and correlate LDH and uric acid levels in serum and salivary samples of OSCC patients and healthy individuals.

Material and Methods

LDH levels and uric acid levels were measured using an enzymatic method in serum and salivary samples of OSCC cases (n = 18) and healthy individuals (n = 18).

Results

This study indicated statistically significant elevated levels of LDH in serum and saliva samples of OSCC patients when compared to healthy individuals. Furthermore, serum and salivary uric acid were higher in OSCC patients than in controls. This increased levels of uric acid was significant only in serum but not in saliva samples. However, salivary uric acid was found to be co-relating with serum uric acid. In addition to this, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve when plotted to assess combined diagnostic abilities of all the investigations to predict oscc, indicating the diagnostic ability to be 77%.

Conclusion

This study found an increase in uric acid levels in OSCC patients, which contradicts previous existing litratures. Salivary uric acid and LDH levels may be effective indicators for OSCC screening. However, because of the limited sample size, these findings should be viewed with caution.

Elevated salivary uric acid levels among adolescents with eating disorders

OBJECTIVE

Uric acid (UA) is increasingly recognized as having important physiological roles and associated with several peripheral and central pathophysiological outcomes, and might play a role in eating disorders (ED) pathogenesis. We investigated whether UA levels are altered among adolescents with ED.

METHODS

Morning salivary UA concentrations were compared between adolescents referred to treatment at the Herman Dana Center receiving a DSM-V diagnosis of an ED and matched healthy controls.

RESULTS

Salivary UA was significantly elevated among ED compared with control values (ED mean 3.9 ± 1.2 mg/dl, control mean 2.9 ± 1.9 mg/dl, t = - 3.13 df = 81, p = 0.003).

DISCUSSION

Salivary UA is elevated among adolescents with ED. Further studies are required to replicate and extend this finding and evaluate its generalizability as a state or trait marker as regards ED subtypes, other body fluids (plasma and cerebrospinal fluid), and recovery or premorbid stages, as well as its putative mechanistic relevance to ED.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level III, case-control analytic study.

Is maternal dietary selenium intake related to antioxidant status and the occurrence of pregnancy complications?

Selenium (Se) is a trace element essential for the appropriate course of vital processes in the human body. It is also a constituent of the active center of glutathione peroxidase and other antioxidant compounds which play an important role in red-ox processes. Associations between lower blood selenium concentration and obstetric complications has been reported in many studies. The aim of this study was to determine the dietary selenium intake and serum selenium content in pregnant Polish women and relate this to antioxidant status as whole blood glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activity, serum uric acid (UA) content and serum total antioxidant status (TAS) and pregnancy complications occurrence. Ninety-four pregnant women at a mean age 30.6 ± 5.4 years from the Lower Silesia region of Poland were recruited to the study, 37% of studied group had pregnancy complications. The mean reported Se intake and serum selenium content for Polish pregnant women was in the first trimester - 53.99 μg/day and 44.36 μg/l, the second trimester - 58.93 μg/day and 43.16 μg/l and the third trimester - 62.89 μg/day and 40.97 μg/l, respectively. Selenium intake below or above recommended value hadn't significant effect on GPX activity, TAS and UA levels. There were no statistical differences in selenium intake, serum selenium content, GPX activity and TAS and UA level between physiological and complicated pregnancy, but a positive correlation between Se intake and serum selenium content was observed during all period of gestation as well as in the second trimester of pregnancy between Se intake and GPX activity in group with physiological pregnancy where selenium intake was below the recommended level. Selenium intake above the recommended level was positively correlated also with serum UA level in first and second trimester of pregnancy. Despite weak, positive correlations in the first two trimesters of pregnancy between selenium supply and GPX activity and UA concentration we concluded that selenium intake does not significantly affect during pregnancy, both: markers of the antioxidant status of pregnant women and the occurrence of pregnancy complications.