A tentative model for d-glucose turnover in human saliva

AbstractObjective m of the present study is to propose a tentative model for d-glucose turnover in human saliva. The whole saliva and the saliva from parotid and submandibular/sublingual glands were collected by use of the Salivette™. s liva glucose concentration was measured by the hexokinase method, saliva bacteria glycolysis by use of d-[5-3H] glucose, and the saliva ATP content by the luciferase method. The concentration of glucose amounted to 43.9 ± 6.3 (n = 29), 197.5 ± 17.3 (n = 29), 104.0 ± 12.4 (n = 27) μM in whole saliva, parotid saliva and submandibular/sublingual saliva, respectively. The rate of d-glucose utilization by oral bacteria at a physiological concentration of d-glucose in saliva (50 μM) was estimated at 0.047 ± 0.003 (n = 11) nmol/min per 106 bacteria. Unstimulated salivary d-glucose turnover rate, as calculated from the amount of glucose secreted in saliva which comes from parotid and submandibular and sublingual glands represented 214.6 ± 19.1%/min. In order for salivary d-glucose production to match bacterial utilization of the hexose, the total number of oral bacteria was estimated at about 2.0 × 109 bacteria, in fair agreement with previously published data. sion tudy thus provides support for a tentative model for d-glucose turnover in human saliva.