Markers in saliva have been identified to predict the risk of various diseases

2025/06/26 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Osasuna
• Genetika
• Medikuntza

Several UPV researchers have identified hundreds of molecular markers in saliva that can serve to predict the risk of various diseases. Some of these diseases are cancer, cardiovascular pathologies, diabetes and neurodegenerative disorders. The results of the study may form the basis for the development of a powerful and non-invasive tool in the context of early diagnosis and precision medicine. It was published in Npj Genomic Medicine.

It is known that saliva is used for genetic testing, but the potential for salivary based clinical analysis is much greater. The researchers say that although liistu is one of the most accessible biological fluids, it is underused in clinical practice. And these results have shown that molecular signals in saliva can account for systemic pathological processes outside the oral cavity.

The working group, led by researcher José Ramón Bilbao, used saliva samples from more than 350 people and catalogued the most common DNA variations that could affect the functioning of the saliva genome (genetic polymorphisms or SNPs). In particular, they verified that these polymorphisms function as a switch that activates or deactivates the function to be performed by the genes that affect them.

After comparing the study’s data with previous large international genetic studies on the risk of certain chronic diseases, they found that many of the polymorphisms they detected in saliva are associated with common diseases such as prostate cancer, coronary heart disease, Parkinson’s and type 2 diabetes.

In addition, the research team, using advanced statistical tools, demonstrated that these markers can explain a significant proportion of the genetic heritability of certain diseases, in some cases with greater accuracy than traditional blood indicators.

There is still a need to study broader groups of each disease, but these findings represent an important step forward in the identification of non-invasive biomarkers of the disease.

Another contribution of the study is the development of the largest public database of genetic data derived from saliva, which can also be consulted through an open access platform. Researchers believe that the open nature of the database will make it easier for more research and innovation to come from it.