Department of Oral Surgery, University of Zagreb School of Dental Medicine, Av. Gojka Šuška 6, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia.
Department of Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery, University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia.
Sci Rep. 2021 Jun 24;11(1):13201. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-92649-3.
Melatonin's role in circadian rhythm is well documented, as are its' anti-oxidant, oncostatic and anti-inflammatory properties. Poor sleep quality has been associated as a potential risk factor for several malignancies, including head and neck cancers. The purpose of this study is to determine salivary melatonin (MLT) levels in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients, compare the salivary MLT levels with those in healthy individuals and compare the salivary and serum levels in OSCC patients. Furthermore, the aim is to investigate the potential relationship between sleep quality and salivary MLT levels in OSCC patients. Unstimulated (UWS) and stimulated (SWS) whole saliva was sampled from patients with T1N0M0 and T2N0M0 OSCC (N = 34) and 33 sex and age matched healthy subjects. Serum samples were taken from 11 OSCC patients. Sleep quality was measured using Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire. Melatonin levels in UWS and SWS were significantly higher in the OSCC group. Sleep quality was significantly lower in patients with OSCC (P = 0.0001). ROC analysis was found to be significant (P < 0.001) in evaluating MLT concentration limit in diagnosing OSCC. The expected relationship between sleep quality and salivary MLT levels in OSCC patients was not observed. Our results suggest salivary MLT as a potential biomarker that might facilitate non-invasive detection of early stage OSCC.
褪黑素的昼夜节律作用及其抗氧化、抗肿瘤和抗炎特性已有大量文献记载。睡眠质量差已被认为是包括头颈部癌症在内的几种恶性肿瘤的潜在危险因素。本研究旨在确定口腔鳞状细胞癌（OSCC）患者唾液褪黑素（MLT）水平，将其与健康个体进行比较，并比较 OSCC 患者的唾液和血清 MLT 水平。此外，还旨在研究 OSCC 患者睡眠质量与唾液 MLT 水平之间的潜在关系。从 T1N0M0 和 T2N0M0 OSCC（N=34）患者和 33 名性别和年龄匹配的健康受试者中采集未刺激（UWS）和刺激（SWS）全唾液样本。从 11 名 OSCC 患者中采集血清样本。使用匹兹堡睡眠质量指数（PSQI）问卷评估睡眠质量。OSCC 组 UWS 和 SWS 中的褪黑素水平显著升高。OSCC 患者的睡眠质量显著降低（P=0.0001）。ROC 分析发现，评估 MLT 浓度诊断 OSCC 的诊断截止值具有统计学意义（P<0.001）。未观察到 OSCC 患者睡眠质量与唾液 MLT 水平之间的预期关系。我们的结果表明，唾液 MLT 可能是一种潜在的生物标志物，有助于非侵入性检测早期 OSCC。
