Detecting Dementia by Saliva Analysis: A Fingerprinting Unobtrusive Method Based on a Fast and Cheap Sensor System

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Di Gioia, Claudia^a | Santonico, Marco^b | Zompanti, Alessandro^c | Sabatini, Anna^d | Grasso, Simone^b | Ursini, Francesca^e | Pedone, Claudio^{f; a} | Galdi, Flavia^a | Antonelli Incalzi, Raffaele^{a; g} | Pennazza, Giorgio^{c; *}

Affiliations: [a] Department of Medicine and Surgery, Research Unit of Geriatrics, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Roma, Italy | [b] Department of Science and Technology for Sustainable Development and One Health, Unit of Electronics for Sensor Systems, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, Rome, Italy | [c] Department of Engineering, Unit of Electronics for Sensor Systems, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome, Italy | [d] Department of Engineering, Unit of Computational Systems and Bioinformatics, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, Rome, Italy | [e] Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Campus Bio-Medico, Operative Research Unit of Neurology, Roma, Italy | [f] Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Campus Bio-Medico, Operative Research Unit of Geriatrics, Roma, Italy | [g] Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Campus Bio-Medico, Operative Research Unit of Internal Medicine, Roma, Italy

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Giorgio Pennazza, Unit of Electronics for Sensor Systems, Department of Engineering, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome, Italy. E-mail: g.pennazza@unicampus.it.

Abstract: Background:Recent studies have shown that oxidative stress plays a relevant role in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and in the pathogenesis of vascular dementia (VaD). New diagnostic methods look for biological samples with non-invasive sampling methods. Among these, saliva shows an increase in oxidative stress products, thus a corresponding reduction in antioxidant products were found in dementia cases compared to healthy controls. Compounds identified in saliva include some hydrocarbons whose production has been related to the presence of reactive oxygen species. Objective:The hypothesis is that the voltammetric analysis performed on saliva could be a useful test for diagnosing dementia, potentially discriminating between AD and VaD. Methods:A single-center observational study was conducted on patients referred to the dementia clinic in the Neurology area and healthy controls recruited in the Orthopedics area of the Campus Bio-Medico Hospital in Rome. The study was aimed at evaluating the discriminative properties of salivary voltammetric analysis between healthy subjects and patients with dementia and, as a secondary outcome, between AD and VaD. A total of 69 subjects were enrolled, including 29 healthy controls, 20 patients with AD, and 20 patients with VaD. The degree of cognitive impairment was classified on the basis of the Mini-Mental State Examination score. Results:The results obtained are promising, with an accuracy of 79.7%, a sensitivity of 82.5%, and a specificity of 75.8%, in the discrimination of dementia versus controls. Conclusions:The methods tested demonstrate to be relevant in the discrimination between dementia and controls. A confirmatory study is already running.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, cyclic voltammetry, dementia, multivariate data analysis, saliva fingerprint, vascular dementia

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-230330

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 95, no. 3, pp. 1067-1075, 2023