Analysis of salivary protein profiles and its viscosity in early childhood caries (A cross-sectional study).

Introduction: Early Childhood Caries (ECC) affects a significant proportion of the child population worldwide. Salivary proteins contain a host defense system that plays a role in the caries pathogenesis. Aim: To analyse the protein profile and salivary viscosity from ECC and caries-free subjects. Materials and Methods: The number of subjects included in the study was 16 ECC and 16 caries-free. Salivary viscosity was assessed visually and salivary protein profile was analysed using SDS PAGE. Results: The five most prominent protein bands with molecular mass 15 kDa, 25 kDa, 60 kDa, 65 kDa and 95 kDa were found in ECC patients with the frequency of occurrences in order 8, 3, 16, 6, 2 and caries-free subjects 14, 5, 16, 16, 9. The saliva viscosity of ECC patient was higher than the caries-free subjects. Conclusion: In ECC patients, the frequency of occurrences of salivary protein profile 15 kDa, 25 kDa, 65 kDa and 95 kDa were found less than in caries-free subjects. Meanwhile, protein profile 60 kDa has the same frequency of occurrence in ECC and caries-free subjects. Viscosity of ECC patient was higher than the caries-free subject.