MRC Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE58AF, United Kingdom.
Brain Behav Immun. 2011 May;25(4):640-6. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2010.12.020. Epub 2011 Jan 12.
This study aimed to validate a high-sensitivity assay for C-reactive protein (CRP) in saliva as an alternative medium to study inflammation in large epidemiological cohorts and young people. We measured CRP in saliva and serum in 61 (29.5% males) healthy adult volunteers. We found a moderate-to-strong association between CRP measured in saliva and in serum (r=.72, p<.001). In agreement with the non-steroidal structure and the high molecular weight of CRP, we observed a low saliva-to-serum CRP ratio (1:1633.64). Furthermore, a dichotomous index of salivary CRP, equivalent to a clinically relevant serum CRP cut-off (3mg/l), was associated to known correlates of systemic inflammation (IL-6, BMI and smoking). Finally, we showed that CRP in saliva is stable at room temperature up to 8h after collection. Our study provides initial evidence suggesting that non-invasive assessment of CRP in saliva allows valid prediction of serum CRP. Salivary CRP may thus facilitate and promote research exploring the correlates of low-grade inflammation in epidemiological studies and makes it feasible to expand psychoneuroimmunology research to pediatric populations.
本研究旨在验证唾液中的高敏 C 反应蛋白（CRP）检测法作为替代介质，用于在大型流行病学队列和年轻人中研究炎症。我们在 61 名（29.5%为男性）健康成年志愿者中测量了唾液和血清中的 CRP。我们发现，唾液和血清中 CRP 的检测结果之间存在中度至强相关性（r=.72，p<.001）。与 CRP 的非甾体结构和高分子量一致，我们观察到低的唾液与血清 CRP 比值（1:1633.64）。此外，唾液 CRP 的二分指数，相当于临床上相关的血清 CRP 截断值（3mg/l），与全身炎症的已知相关因素（IL-6、BMI 和吸烟）相关。最后，我们表明，收集后在室温下，CRP 在唾液中稳定长达 8 小时。本研究初步表明，唾液中 CRP 的非侵入性评估可有效预测血清 CRP。因此，唾液 CRP 可能有助于并促进在流行病学研究中探索低水平炎症的相关性，并使得将心理神经免疫学研究扩展到儿科人群成为可能。
