Saliva Iron Levels to Assess Iron Status in Children

BACKGROUND: Iron plays an essential role in the process of neurotransmitter synthesis and neuron myelination.
Iron deficiency impacts low cognitive performance, even involved in long-term effects even though iron deficiency
has been overcome. Given the impact caused by iron deficiency, it is necessary to monitor the status of iron in the
body. Diagnostic tests carried out so far use blood specimens taken with invasive method. This creates fear for the
child because of the pain it causes.
AIM: This study aims to obtain a non-invasive alternative diagnostic test in detecting iron deficiency in children using
saliva as an examination specimen.
METHODS: The design of this study was case control, with a sample of elementary school children aged 9–12 years
and for women who had not experienced menstruation. The sample consisted of 40 people who were taken randomly
and grouped into iron deficiency and normal. Determine the group of iron deficiency and normal was based on the
results of an examination of serum iron levels. Next, saliva samples were taken to determine saliva iron levels. The
characteristics of the sample data were obtained through a questionnaire, while the measurement of serum iron
levels was carried out by the spectrophotometric method, and the measurement of saliva iron levels was carried out
by the ELISA method. Data were analyzed using Spearman’s test.
RESULTS: Based on serum iron measurements, it was found that the mean serum iron levels in children with iron
deficiency were lower than normal children (38.153 ± 8.99 q/dL vs. 79.198 ± 14.2219 q/dL), on the contrary, on
examination of iron levels, it was found that in children with iron deficiency, saliva iron levels were higher than in
normal children (5.745 ± 3.04 q/dL vs. 2,576 ± 1.43 q/dL). The correlation test results showed a significant negative
correlation between serum iron levels and moderate iron levels (p = 0.000, r = –0.518).
CONCLUSION: Saliva iron levels can be used as an alternative non-invasive diagnostic test to assess children’s
iron status.