Saliva Protein Profile and DMFT Index Relationship in Dental Students

Objectives: This preliminary study aims to (i) study the electrophoretic pattern variations and presence of particular proteins between types of human whole saliva (HWS), and ii) find any correlation between protein profile variations with total Decayed, Missing, and Filled (DMFT) index of the subjects. Methods: Three types of whole saliva samples i.e. resting (RS), mechanically stimulated (MS) and gustatory stimulated (GS) were obtained from each randomly selected of the twenty-five first year dental students of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (N=75), with their DMFT index determined previously. All samples were concentrated prior being subjected to sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Electrophoretic patterns analyses i.e. total number of protein bands and presence of three protein moieties i.e. high molecular-weight mucin glycoprotein (MG1), low molecular-weight mucin glycoprotein (MG2) and proline-rich protein (PRP-1) for all three types of saliva were carried out, and the data were used to relate with DMFT index of the subjects. Results: Visual inspection of the gels revealed variability in the electrophoretic patterns of the saliva samples in terms of the number and intensity of the protein bands. Total number of protein bands for all three types of saliva were significantly correlated with each other (r=0.477-0.641, p<0.01). The presence of MG1 is quite consistent in all three types of saliva and is correlated with DMFT index (p<0.01), compared to MG2 and PRP-1. Conclusions: In this studied population, total number of protein bands in all three types of saliva influence each other. Inconsistent presence or influence of the studied protein moieties is observed in types of saliva and DMFT index of the subjects, and this warrants higher number of samples to be studied in the future.