CHANGES IN THE LEVELS OF SALIVARY SODIUM AND POTASSIUM IN PATIENTS WITH ESSENTIAL HYPERTENSION

It has been known that the metabolism of some elements in the body is affected by essential hypertension. However the interaction between essential hypertension and electrolytes in blood and urine samples has been investigated in several studies, this interaction in saliva still requires further studies. The aim of this study is to examine the changes in concentration of some trace elements like sodium, potassium of saliva in patients who have essential hypertension. It is also aimed to search if laboratory findings associated with salivary elements have diagnostic importance. 20 patients with essential hypertension, 20 patients undergoing antihypertensive treatment for 10 years and 20 normotensive patients were included in this study. Mixed saliva secretion samples from all patients were collected for determining concentrations of sodium and potassium. In addition to conventional laboratory techniques, neutron activation analysis and multi-element discriminating techniques were used. As a result sodium levels in patients with hypertension, undergoing antihypertensive treatment and in normotensive patients were found higher than the levels in patients with hypertension who do not undergo any treatment. Potassium level in first two group patients was found statistically less than the last group.