Saliva

Abstract: An adequate supply of saliva is critical to the preservation and maintenance of oral tissue. Clinicians often do not value the many benefits of saliva until quantities are decreased. Much is written on the subject of salivary hypofunction, but little attention is paid to normal salivary flow and function. This article is a brief, up-to-date overview of the literature on the basics of normal salivary composition, flow, and function. A review of the literature was conducted using MEDLINE and Healthstar (1944 through 1999); articles were selected for inclusion on the basis of relevance and significance to the clinician.

Abstract: The 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) was detected in the self-collected saliva of 91.7% (11/12) of patients. Serial saliva viral load monitoring generally showed a declining trend. Live virus was detected in saliva by viral culture. Saliva is a promising noninvasive specimen for diagnosis, monitoring, and infection control in patients with 2019-nCoV infection.

Abstract: Markedly increased quantities of lysozyme have been found in the serum and urine (ranging to 2.6 g per day) of ten consecutive cases of monocytic and monomyelocytic leukemia. The enzyme has been isolated from the urine of several cases and physicochemically and immunochemically characterized. It is apparently identical to the lysozyme of normal tears, saliva, leukocytes, and serum, but structurally different from the lysozyme of hen's egg white. The activity of the human enzyme assayed with M. lysodeikticus organisms is 3 to 12 times greater than egg white lysozyme at equivalent concentrations. An agar plate method has been developed for quantitating lysozyme activity in small samples (approximately 25 µl) of serum, urine, or other biological fluids. The range and reproducibility of this method were found to be superior to previously available lysozyme assay procedures. Present evidence indicates that lysozyme is the principal, if not the sole, product of the proliferating monocytes in monocytic and monomyelocytic leukemia, and quantitation of serum and urine lysozyme should be a useful diagnostic procedure for these leukemias.