Salivary Amylase

By Author: Henry Ford
Total Articles: 189
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Sodium fluoride
In a study done the NaF at different concentrations was found to inhibit the activity of salivary amylase activity. According to Burt (2003) the concentration was found to have the inhibitory effect at 50mM or above this concentration (p.72). As a matter of fact, this effect increased when more concentrated NaF was administered. In particular the study recorded a salivary amylase inhibitory rate of 7% to 11% for concentrations of between fifty and five hundred mM (Burt, 2003). However, it is worth noting that this study was done on assay mixtures incubated for a period of one to three hours.
In a similar study done by Ricky (2004) the PH of the mixtures at different NAF concentration was measured at the end of experiment. Similar results as above were realized which were contributed to the presence of NaF. In addition, the PH of the mixtures containing the 100 and 500 mM was found to have increased. Surprisingly the PH of mixtures below fifty nM did not change at the end of the experiment. It is also worth noting that at high PH (more than 8) salivary amylase is stable and the decreased activity that ...
... resulted at such NaF concentrations could only be attributed to decreased activity of the enzyme activity (Boris, 2002).
In another experiment done by Robin (2007) artificial saliva was used in measuring the plaque formation and at different chloride concentration. In this experiment the study artificial saliva at different PH of 2, 5, and 7 was used with the concentration of Fluoride ranging from 5, 5000 and 10,000ppm. The activity was reported for saliva at PH 2 for the fluoride concentration between 1000 to 10,000 ppm but none was reported for the saliva with PH of 7 and this could explain why some researchers have found no correlation between Fluoride concentration and salivary amylase.
In a treatment of patients with the problem of hypo-salivation Meyer (2010) argues that patients are advised to apply gel in order to re-mineralize the enamel. Indeed an experiment to gauge the effectiveness of this fluoride gel was carried out where the enamel specimens were placed in a carboxy methyl-celluloses solution, in mineral water with octacalcium phosphate and in saliva substitute for period of five weeks with the temperature of thirty seven degrees centigrade (Meyer, 2010). After a while the mineral levels was measured by microradiographs where the enamels that was placed in carboxycellulose was found to be more de-mineralized than the other two specimens. With treatment of fluoride gel the specimen resulted to less demineralization and this shows that the fluorides were able to alter the effect of the de-mineralizing solutions (Meyer, 2010).
Aluminium Fluoride
Heidman, (2003) found that a correlation really existed between the Fluoride and the salivary amylase. However he also found out that Aluminium fluoride was less effective in caries prevention. In a demonstration, Heidman (2003) used two groups of participants with one using the toothpaste containing Sodiumfluoride and the other using the toothpaste with aluminum fluoride. (Heidman, 2003) In this study radiographs were obtained on the onset of the study and after period pf three years. The results that were obtained showed that there was an increment in the cases of dental caries for the group using the toothpaste with Aluminium in comparison to the group using the toothpaste with 0.83% Sodiumfluoridephosphate (Heidman, 2003).
Fluorides and salivary amylase
The correlation between fluorides and salivary amylase continue to receive diverse results. Some researchers have argued that there is a positive correlation with more studies showing an absence of one or even a negative correlation. It has also been found that the activity of the salivary amylase is inhibited within some range of Fluoride concentration. On the other hand, there have been studies on the correlation between the salivary amylase and dental caries. However, these studies have as well resulted to mixed reaction on whether a correlation actually exists. In essence the salivary amylase is attributable to the breakdown of polysaccharides (Whitford, 2006). In the process sucrose is produced which is attributed to the amylase activity. However, it could be argued that due to the inconsequential amount of sucrose produced as a result of this activity the dental caries is less likely to be caused by low levels of salivary amylase. In a simpler way it could be argued that there is no correlation between salivary amylase and dental caries. Some of the researchers argue that in essence what the fluoride does is that it prevents absorption of calcium but does not necessarily inhibit the activity of salivary amylase (Hubbell, 2003). The absorption of calcium was found to have decreased when some patients wee provided with fluoride supplements (Hubbell, 2005).
An argument on how fluoride is able to control dental caries where the acid dissolves the enamel which then results to infection was also studied. According to CDC and in words of a biologist the fluoride inhibits the demineralization of the enamel (Shatred, 2005). As a matter of fact the amount of fluoride in the saliva is very low according to CDC and is estimated to be 0.016 ppm where the drinking water has fluorine (Hubbell, 2003). On the other hand a measure of 0.006pmm is recorded where the drinking water is not fluorinated. This concentration was not found to affect the cariogenic activity of the bacteria (Kerry, 2002). . Indeed, it was found that the concentration of the fluoride in the saliva increased between a hundred and a thousand times with the introduction of the fluoride through means such as using fluoride toothpastes and other supplements containing fluoride. This fluoride was then released with the increase in acidity brought by the bacteria activity.
In the above experiments the methodologies of the sample collection and analysis was a major step in the experiment. Various methods have been used to collect saliva and can be classified into stimulated and un-stimulated saliva (Lewis, 2003). Collection techniques vary ranging to the instances where participants are required to spit or drool into the collecting tools or the saliva is collected on absorbent material. In most cases where absorbent materials are used salivette is commonly used where the participant is required to take a cotton roll, place it into the mouth for a range of one to five minutes and then the sample is used for amylase determination. In the future studies it is important to keep all the factors constant including the type of saliva, as stimulated saliva was found to differ with the un-stimulated saliva. In essence it thus becomes important to instruct the participants in the study to place the cotton swab in one area of the mouth or alternatively to swap it around the mouth to ensure uniform results (Nater, 2004).

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