Salivary Metabolomics in the Diagnosis and Monitoring of Neurodegenerative Dementia

Eelis Hyvärinen; Eino Solje; Jouko Vepsäläinen; Arja Kullaa; Tuulia Tynkkynen

doi:10.3390/metabo13020233

Salivary Metabolomics in the Diagnosis and Monitoring of Neurodegenerative Dementia

Metabolites. 2023 Feb 4;13(2):233. doi: 10.3390/metabo13020233.

Authors

Eelis Hyvärinen¹, Eino Solje^{2

3}, Jouko Vepsäläinen⁴, Arja Kullaa¹, Tuulia Tynkkynen⁴

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Dentistry, University of Eastern Finland, 70210 Kuopio, Finland.
² Institute of Clinical Medicine, Neurology, University of Eastern Finland, 70210 Kuopio, Finland.
³ Neuro Center, Neurology, Kuopio University Hospital, 70210 Kuopio, Finland.
⁴ NMR Metabolomics Laboratory, School of Pharmacy, University of Eastern Finland, 70210 Kuopio, Finland.

Abstract

Millions of people suffer with dementia worldwide. However, early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases/dementia (NDD) is difficult, and no specific biomarkers have been found. This study aims to review the applications of salivary metabolomics in diagnostics and the treatment monitoring of NDD A literature search of suitable studies was executed so that a total of 29 original research articles were included in the present review. Spectroscopic methods, mainly nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, give us a broad view of changes in salivary metabolites in neurodegenerative diseases. The role of different salivary metabolites in brain function is discussed. Further studies with larger patient cohorts should be carried out to investigate the association between salivary metabolites and brain function and thus learn more about the complicated pathways in the human body.

Keywords: NMR spectroscopy; dementia; mass spectrometry; metabolites; neurodegenerative diseases; saliva.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This research received external funding from the Finnish Dental Society Apollonia (E.H.). Funding from Sigrid Jusélius Foundation, Finnish Medical Foundation, State Research Funding (VTR) (E.S.).