Salivary sIgA, mucin MG1, mucin MG2, lactoferrin and lysozyme related to early childhood caries: a case-control study

Background: Early childhood caries (ECC) is a chronic infectious disease caused by various factors and progresses rapidly, severely affecting children’s oral health and overall well-being. Salivary proteins modulate the oral micro-ecological environment by different natural defense mechanisms and prevent dental caries. Aiming to determine whether salivary secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA), high-molecular-weight mucins (mucin MG1), low-molecular-weight mucins (mucin MG2), lactoferrin (LTF) and lysozyme levels might serve as biomarkers to assess childhood caries risk, the present study investigated the correlations between salivary sIgA, mucin MG1, mucin MG2, lactoferrin (LTF) and lysozyme levels and childhood caries. Methods: 51 children aged 3–5 years old were investigated and randomly categorized into three groups (n = 17/group) based on their decayed, missing and filled surfaces (dmfs) index: a caries-free group (dmfs = 0), a low-caries group (dmfs = 1–4), and a high-caries group (dmfs >4). 5 mL of unstimulated saliva was collected from each child, centrifuged to collect the supernatant. Secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA), mucin MG1, mucin MG2, lactoferrin (LTF) and lysozyme were measured via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to evaluate the diagnostic potential of the above salivary proteins as risk indicators for ECC. Results: Among the three groups, sIgA, mucin MG1, mucin MG2, LTF and lysozyme expression differed significantly (p < 0.05). Pairwise comparisons revealed no significant differences in LTF and lysozyme levels between the low-caries group and the high-caries group. However, statistically significant differences were observed in all other pairwise comparisons (p < 0.05). Conclusions: As a diagnostic marker, sIgA did not show statistical significance, while the other four salivary proteins did. It appears that LTF, mucin MG1, lysozyme and mucin MG2 could be employed to assess caries risk in children, with LTF demonstrating the most practical significance.

Early childhood caries; Salivary proteins; Dental caries susceptibility; Salivary biomarkers

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