by researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan also emphasizes the importance of saliva in overall health.
In the study, researchers conducted a comprehensive analysis of the metabolites that make up human saliva using samples given voluntarily from a group of 27-to-33-year-old individuals and a group of 72-to-80-year-old individuals.
Metabolites are the intermediate or end products from the chemical reactions that occur within our bodies. They can be related to energy synthesis, digestion, growth, cell health, and more. The concentration of metabolites in the saliva is very low compared to that in blood and urine.
Using a comprehensive method, researchers identified 99 metabolites, some of which were previously unreported in saliva. The quantities of 21 of these metabolites were different between the two groups.
Those related to antioxidative activity, energy synthesis, and muscle function, were lower in the elderly individuals than the young people, whereas one metabolite increased. This occurs due to the reduced amount of energy consumed by cells present in elderly individuals.
Amongst the metabolites that declined in quantity, two were related to taste, suggesting that the elderly lose some ability to taste, and others that are related to muscle activity such as swallowing.
Two metabolites namely creatinine and acetyl-carnosine showed a lower quantity in women compared to men. These metabolites are linked to muscle activity.
These age-linked salivary metabolites together illuminate a metabolic network that reflects a decline of oral function during human aging.
The results of this study may be useful to assess the degree of metabolic aging in humans or to find early indications of age-related diseases.
This is the first comprehensive analysis to be performed on the metabolites of saliva so researchers are planning to continue this work.
In the future, they hope that saliva will be a sample that can be given readily available to provide an enormous amount of information about an individual’s health.
Source: Medindia
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