Pediatric Dentistry Unit, Department of Oral Health Sciences, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Unit of Hematology and Oncology, Advanced Pediatric Centre, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Eur Arch Paediatr Dent. 2022 Apr;23(2):281-287. doi: 10.1007/s40368-021-00679-2. Epub 2021 Nov 29.
Chemotherapy for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) is known to render children immuno-deficient. A concomitant suppression of local defence mechanisms, such as saliva may further aggravate the adverse consequences of chemotherapy. The present study was conducted to evaluate alterations in salivary flow rate, pH and buffering capacity and to correlate these parameters with Absolute Neutrophil Counts (ANC).
A cohort of 43 patients, aged 3-12 years were evaluated for the aforementioned parameters at baseline, post-induction and post-consolidation phases. Salivary collection was done and ANC was measured from routine haematological reports.
A decrease in the salivary parameters was observed at the end of Induction phase as compared to baseline, with a statistically significant decrease in unstimulated salivary flow rates (p < 0.01). Statistically significant positive correlations were found between ANC and salivary flow rate (p = 0.005), pH (p < 0.00) and buffering capacity (p < 0.00). On testing the significance of these correlations, all the values for these parameters were found to be statistically significant.
Salivary parameters showed derangements over the phases of chemotherapy, with maximum decrease at the end of induction phase. The positive correlations of salivary parameters with ANC of the subjects may be considered indicative of a concomitant immunological compromise in these children.
众所周知，急性淋巴细胞白血病（ALL）的化疗会使儿童免疫功能缺陷。局部防御机制（如唾液）的同时抑制可能会进一步加重化疗的不良后果。本研究旨在评估唾液流量、pH 值和缓冲能力的变化，并将这些参数与绝对中性粒细胞计数（ANC）相关联。
对 43 名年龄在 3-12 岁的患者在诱导期、巩固期前后进行上述参数评估。从常规血液学报告中测量唾液收集和 ANC。
与基线相比，诱导期结束时唾液参数下降，未刺激唾液流量率有统计学显著下降（p<0.01）。ANC 与唾液流量率（p=0.005）、pH 值（p<0.00）和缓冲能力（p<0.00）之间存在统计学显著正相关。在测试这些相关性的显著性时，这些参数的所有值均具有统计学意义。
唾液参数在化疗各阶段出现紊乱，诱导期末最大下降。唾液参数与研究对象 ANC 的正相关可能表明这些儿童同时存在免疫功能受损。
