Role of salivary malondialdehyde in assessment of oxidative stress among diabetics.

AIMS

To evaluate and compare the salivary content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in patients with type 2 diabetes and control subjects.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional study among 30 freshly diagnosed subjects of diabetes mellitus and 30 volunteers with no diabetes mellitus. Serum and salivary MDS levels were evaluated among all the subjects.

RESULTS

The mean serum MDA in group controls and diabetics was 0.95 ± 0.13 and 3.11 ± 0.42. The mean salivary MDA in group controls and diabetics was 0.26 ± 0.05 μmol/l and 0.81 ± 0.07 μmol/l. The mean serum and salivary MDA levels were significantly higher in group diabetics than control group (p < 0.001 and <0.001) respectively. There was significant positive strong correlation between serum and salivary MDA levels in both controls and diabetics groups (r = 0.857, p < 0.001 and r = 0.891, p < 0.001) respectively.

CONCLUSION

MDA was detectable in saliva in both diabetic and control groups. There was a positive significant correlation between salivary and serum MDA in diabetic and control subjects. Hence, salivary MDA appears to be an indicator of serum MDA concentration.