Salivary 1H NMR analysis of obese pediatric patients with severe dental caries

Abstract

Objectives

Salivary proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (¹H NMR) has been widely used in metabonomic studies. A research gap still exists in analysing the metabolic profile in obese children suffering from severe dental caries. The aim of this study was to analyse the most identified metabolites in 10–12 years old obese children with severe dental caries and compare them with normal healthy age-matched children.

Materials and methods

Obese children with Body Mass Index Z-score > +2 (n = 20) and normal weight children (control) (n = 20) with severe caries underwent 1.5 mL saliva collection followed by ¹H NMR imaging. Spectra were analysed using TopSpin 3.5 and metabolite assignments were made using Chenomx NMR suite and human metabolite database.

Results

A total of 38 common metabolites were identified out of which eight were significantly increased in obese children (p < 0.05). Succinylacetone and glutamine among eight other metabolites significantly increased in the saliva of obese children suffering from severe dental caries. They were also the top contributors in the VIP score plot.

Conclusions

Thirteen (3 amino acids, 4 carboxylic acids, 2 ketoacids, 1 alcohol and 3 miscellaneous metabolites) out of the 38 metabolites identified in normal and obese children with severe dental caries, had high VIP score. Glutamine and succinylacetone showed the highest VIP score with eight metabolites significantly increased in the saliva of obese children.

Clinical relevance

This study could pave way in advancing our understanding of the relationship between caries and obesity and the potential role the metabolites can play in comparison with the normal individuals.