Elevated salivary uric acid levels among adolescents with eating disorders

Childhood trauma cortisol and immune cell glucocorticoid transcript levels are associated with increased risk for suicidality in adolescence

Rising adolescent suicide rates present a growing unmet need. Childhood trauma (CT) has been associated with altered cortisol dynamics and immune cell glucocorticoid reactivity, yet their additive longer-term contributions to later suicide outcomes are less clear. The current study compared CT scores, resting salivary free cortisol and mononuclear cell gene expression levels of the nuclear receptor, subfamily 3, member 1 (NR3C1) coding the glucocorticoid receptor, and its co-chaperons FKBP prolyl isomerase 5 (FKBP5) and KIT Ligand (KITLG), between a cohort of adolescents presenting with a suicidal crisis requiring hospital treatment, and matched healthy controls. Childhood trauma scores and glucocorticoid measures were significantly altered among suicidal adolescents, and CT scores correlated with mononuclear cell glucocorticoid transcripts. Both CT scores and glucocorticoid measures explained substantial additive portions of the variance in adolescent suicidality. Long-term perturbations in cortisol dynamics and immune cell glucocorticoid response elements denote dysregulated immune stress reactivity, and may possess value in prediction and point to modifiable-risk factors in prevention of clinically significant suicidality during the brittle period of adolescence, years after childhood trauma exposure.

Salivary Uric Acid: A Noninvasive Wonder for Clinicians?

This review is a summary of the modern-day approach and recent trend in the determination of uric acid in the saliva of humans and its use in diagnosis by clinicians. Uric acid, which is the end product obtained from the breakdown of purine nucleotides, is an important biomarker associated with various conditions. Uric acid is found in various body fluids, such as serum, plasma, and urine. It can be used as an important tool for various diseases, such as gout and hyperuricemia, or conditions that are associated with increased oxidative stress. Recently, there has been an emergence of studies that have utilized uric acid concentrations measured in the saliva and studied its association with various diseases. Salivary uric acid can prove to be a noninvasive method to provide a diagnosis of serious illness. A raised uric acid level in the saliva can be associated with cancer, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, gout, and hypertension. A reduced level of salivary uric acid on the other hand can be a marker for Alzheimer's disease, progression of multiple sclerosis, and impairment of cognition. Online search databases, including Google Scholar, Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science, were searched, and articles that were published before September 2021 based on salivary uric acid analysis were analyzed for this review. Uric acid is an essential biomarker that has antioxidant properties. Assessment of salivary uric acid levels was found to be essential in conditions such as cancer, metabolic syndrome, neurological conditions, psychiatric conditions, human immunodeficiency virus, and gout and in monitoring treatment of hyperuricemia. Although having importance in diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring, salivary uric acid analysis has not gained enough popularity due to limitations such as saliva collection and sample processing issues. With proper education and standardization, salivary uric acid analysis can be used as a cost-effective and noninvasive tool for getting a clue about antioxidant biomarker concentration in saliva and hence various diseases associated with oxidative stress.