Evaluation of the salivary proteome as a surrogate tissue for systems biology approaches to understanding appetite

Current measurement of appetite depends upon tools that are either subjective (visual analogue scales), or invasive (blood). Saliva is increasingly recognised as a valuable resource for biomarker analysis. Proteomics workflows may provide alternative means for the assessment of appetitive response. The study aimed to assess the potential value of the salivary proteome to detect novel biomarkers of appetite using an iTRAQ-based workflow. Diurnal variation of salivary protein concentrations was assessed. A randomised, controlled, crossover study examined the effects on the salivary proteome of isocaloric doses of various long chain fatty acid (LCFA) oil emulsions compared to no treatment (NT). Fasted males provided saliva samples before and following NT or dosing with LCFA emulsions. The oil component of the DHA emulsion contained predominantly docosahexaenoic acid and the oil component of OA contained predominantly oleic acid. Several proteins were present in significantly (p < 0.05) different quantities in saliva samples taken following treatments compared to fasting samples. DHA caused alterations in thioredoxin and serpin B4 relative to OA and NT. A further study evaluated energy intake (EI) in response to LCFA in conjunction with subjective appetite scoring. DHA was associated with significantly lower EI relative to NT and OA (p = 0.039). The collective data suggest investigation of salivary proteome may be of value in appetitive response. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Proteomics: The clinical link.

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► Appetite is usually measured qualitatively or using blood draws.
► These methods are subjective or invasive.
► Saliva may represent a valuable source of biomarkers of appetite.
► The changes in the salivary proteome were tested with iTRAQ.
► Alterations were tested in a multivariate model with changes in behaviour and appetite.