Salivary aspartate amino transferase and alanine amino transferase of non-insulin-dependents (type2) diabetic patients

Background : Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a world-wide chronic metabolic disorder affects relatively high percentage of population. A few information is available in diabetes on the salivary content of enzymes GOT (AST) and GPT (ALT). Patients and methods : we studied 19 patients (NIDDM, type 2 diabetes mellitus aged 29-67 year). Colorimetric determination of salivary GPT and GOT activity was used. Results : In the whole saliva of non-insulin-dependent (NIDDM, n = 19) diabetic patients and from agecross-matched healthy subjects (n = 19). Saliva concentrations of GOT (43.92 = 12.8U / L) in NIDDM patients were higherly significant (P < 0.001) than those observed in normal subjects (23.0 ± 8.84 U / L). GPT was higher in NIDDM than in normal subjects (15.63 ± 7.25, 10.2 ± 7.31U / L respectively) too. Conclusion : Determination of cytosolic enzymes GPT&GOT in saliva may be useful for monitoring the diabetic involvement.