Background
“The discovery of the endocannabinoid system and of its role in the regulation of energy balance has significantly advanced our understanding of the physiopathological mechanisms leading to obesity and type 2 diabetes. New knowledge on the role of this system in humans has been acquired by measuring blood endocannabinoids. Here we explored endocannabinoids and related N-acylethanolamines in saliva and verified their changes in relation to body weight status and in response to a meal or to body weight loss.”
“The discovery of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) and of its impact on the regulation of energy homeostasis represents a significant advance in the study of obesity and type 2 diabetes [1]–[4].”
“The saliva is the first digestive secretion produced in response to the ingestion of food [11]. Therefore, it is reasonable to investigate whether signals and systems involved in the regulation of food intake, such as the ECS, might be present in saliva and exert a functional role. Besides, saliva offers distinctive advantages over serum or plasma as a diagnostic tool, thanks to the non-invasiveness of the collection procedure.”
“The ECS is present in human salivary glands.”
“Changes in salivary endocannabinoids and N-acylethanolamines levels in response to body weight loss.”
“Here we demonstrate that endocannabinoids and related N-acylethanolamines can be reliably detected and quantified in human saliva. Similarly to what already reported for circulating levels in the blood [7], [9], [10], the salivary concentration of AEA and OEA were significantly increased in obese, insulin-resistant subjects as compared to normal weight controls.”
“the present findings overall indicate that salivary AEA might be a useful biomarker in human obesity, in particular considering that salivary samples are easy to collect, require a non-invasive procedure advantageous when performing studies in obese subjects in whom venipuncture may be difficult, and can be repeatedly collected at home by the patient during a therapeutic intervention. This type of tool could therefore be used to better phenotype the obese population, assess responses to treatment, or to further study the physiology of the ECS in humans, by investigating salivary endocannabinoid responses under various conditions.”