Salivary Test Available For Hepatitis B

Viral hepatitis is one of the world's most common viral illnesses.

The role of saliva in the transmission of hepatitis B makes dental personnel particularly vulnerable to this infection.  A study in Compendium, 3/2012, compared a group of known seropositive hepatitis B patients to a  control group without the disease.  The HBsAg (hepatitis specific antigen) was found in the saliva of 74.9% of the seropositive patients.  The saliva in the control group was accurate in 100% of the patients.  The conclusion of the study was that saliva collection is easy and non-invasive and an accurate method of detection of the hepatitis specific antigen.

This is another example of how salivary diagnostics is becoming a more frequent method for finding disease.

Robert G. Tupac, DDS, FACP, Inc.,
 Diplomat, American Board of Prosthodontics
(661) 325-1275 | www.drtupac.com
5060 California Ave., #170, Bakersfield, CA 93309

Pancreatic Cancer Biomarkers Found in Saliva

The Journal of the American Dental Association this month reports a study at UCLA that identified salivary biomarkers for pancreatic cancer.  Dr. David Wong, previously featured in this blog, in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, conducted a study on mice which showed that pancreatic tumor derived molecules are transported from the source of the tumor into saliva as biomarkers.  The importance of the study is that systemic disease can be detected in saliva, which represents a significantly less invasive diagnostic test than previous methods.

Source:  JADA, Jan 1, 2014, vol. 145, p. 20


Robert G. Tupac, DDS, FACP, Inc., Diplomate, American Board of Prosthodontics (661) 325-1275 | www.drtupac.com 5060 California Ave., #170, Bakersfield, CA 93309

Salivary Test Available For Hepatitis B

Viral hepatitis is one of the world's most common viral illnesses.  The role of saliva in the transmission of Hepatitis B makes dental personnel particularly vulnerable to this infection.  A study in Compendium, 3/2012, compared a group of known seropositive hepatitis B patients to a control group without the disease.  The HBsAg (hepatitis specific antigen) was found in the saliva of 74.9% of the seropositive patients.  The saliva in the control group was accurate in 100% of the patients.  While HBsAg is considered the hallmark of HBV infection, serum collection and testing is potentially infectious and time consuming.  In addition, up to 80% of infected patients may have only subclinical symptoms.  The conclusions of this study were that saliva collection is easy and non-invasive and an accurate method of detection of the hepatitis B antigen and is a promising tool for diagnostic studies. 

Salivary diagnostics is becoming a more frequent method for finding disease. 


Robert G. Tupac, DDS, FACP, Inc., Diplomate, American Board of Prosthodontics (661) 325-1275 | www.drtupac.com 5060 California Ave., #170, Bakersfield, CA 93309