Evaluation of salivary adiponectin profile in obese patients

Obesity is a chronic inflammatory disease significantly risen worldwide, especially among children. Adipokines, secreted from adipose tissue, are hormones involved in various cellular processes such as energy metabolism and inflammation. Among the others, adiponectin is gaining increasing interest for its insulin-sentitizing, anti-atherogenic and anti-inflammatory properties. This adipokine undergoes different post-translational modifications, after which it circulates as oligomers of high, medium and low molecular weight (HMW, MMW, LMW); HMW are the most biologically active oligomers. Serum adiponectin levels as well as the amount of its oligomers are inversely correlated to BMI and closely associated with obesity and related diseases. In this study, we analyzed total adiponectin expression and its oligomeric profile in saliva samples from 27 obese compared to 27 age- and sex-matched controls. Moreover, we compared adiponectin oligomerization between serum and saliva samples. The analysis of the different adiponectin oligomers reveals a slightly higher expression of total, HMW and LMW salivary adiponectin in obese patients compared to controls. Finally, FPLC analysis evidenced that HMW oligomers in saliva have a higher molecular weight than in serum confirming the presence of more complex oligomers in saliva, previously identified as super HMW (S-HMW). Saliva is considered a potential source of novel biomarkers for the diagnosis of metabolic disorders. The assessment of total adiponectin and its oligomeric profiles in saliva samples may represent a promising biological marker for the analysis of metabolic diseases.