Oral salivary predictive values as a potential contributor to overall autonomic balance, cardiac coherence, heartrate variability, and cardiovascular risk assessment

Introduction: As salivary pH and electrolytes are indicators of cardiac health or sympathetic nervous system. This study aims to investigate the relationship between stress, coherence, and autonomic function by analyzing salivary pH and electrolytes as biomarkers of cardiac health and sympathetic nervous system activity. Materials and Methods: Heartrate Variability (HRV) recordings were taken for six minutes. Saliva samples were collected by the spit method. The specimens were meticulously transferred to the spectroscopy laboratory at a temperature of -20 °C in a dry ice container. Following 30 minutes of centrifugation at 7000 rpm, a transparent supernatant was obtained. Biochemical analysis of saliva samples was performed without further storage and freezing through Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy. Results: In the male participants with age group 18-29 years containing normal salivary pH, 69.1% had parasympathetic predominance. In the males with age group 18-29 years containing normal, acidic and alkaline salivary pH had low coherence in 67.3%, 88.9% and 66.7% of subjects respectively. Younger age group containing acidic salivary pH, 50% had sympathetic predominance. However, as age increased, the percentage of sympathetic predominance in acidic salivary group increased. i.e. in the 54-65 years age group, 100% had sympathetic predominance. The subjects who had sodium in their saliva were having sympathetic predominance i.e. in the age group of 42-53 years of females who had sodium in their saliva, 100% subjects were having sympathetic predominance. Conclusion: Our study strongly suggests a potential link between oral salivary indicators and autonomic nervous system regulation, which plays a crucial role in cardiovascular health. Oral salivary parameters could serve as potential predictors or indicators of autonomic sympathetic predominance, internal stress, cardiac coherence, and heart rate variability.