Development of an assay to determine expression levels of ERBB2 and SIRT1 mRNA in saliva
2021 年 55 巻 1 号 p. 129-136
詳細
2021 年 55 巻 1 号 p. 129-136
The diagnosis of lifestyle-related diseases and cancer at an early stage is important. The use of saliva, rather than blood testing, for diagnosis has many advantages, especially in terms of its non-invasiveness and convenience. We assessed expression levels of ERBB2, a cancer-related gene, and SIRT1, a gene associated with suppressing aging and improving immunity, using human saliva rather than blood samples. Fasting blood samples and unstimulated saliva samples from passive drooling were collected from healthy volunteers in their twenties, and the levels of markers within each sample were assessed via real-time polymerase chain reaction using the comparative threshold cycle (ΔΔCT) method. The nonparametric Mann-Whitney statistical test was applied to determine median differences. We used β-actin as the reference gene in this study. A significant difference and correlation between blood and saliva transcript levels of SIRT1 (r=0.344) were observed in the volunteers. Taken together, these findings indicate that the transcript levels of ERBB2 and SIRT1 measured from saliva have the capacity to be used as diagnostic biomarkers and may minimize the need for performing blood tests. (J Osaka Dent Univ 2021; 55: 129-136)
