Salivary exoglycosidases in gestational diabetes .

INTRODUCTION: As exoglycosidases have been described as potential markers of salivary gland pathology, we decided to check the possibility of the use of these enzymes in the detection of salivary gland involvement in gestational diabetes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For this purpose diabetic pregnant women were compared to pregnant and non-pregnant healthy women. The activities of total HEX as well as GLU in the saliva were determined in duplicate according to Marciniak et al. The activities of GAL, FUC, and MAN in the saliva were determined in duplicate according to Zwierz et al. RESULTS: It was found that the specific activities of exoglycosidases in the saliva of diabetic pregnant women significantly increased in comparison to healthy pregnant and non-pregnant women. CONCLUSION: Increased specific activity of exoglycosidases suggests that gestational diabetes provokes structural/functional alterations in salivary glands and changes in the salivary glycoconjugates metabolism.

The importance and perspective of plant-based squalene in cosmetology.

Squalene is a highly unsaturated hydrocarbon from triterpenoid family, discovered as a major component of the liver oil of certain varieties of deep sea sharks. In the interest of protecting biodiversity, raw materials of animal origin must be replaced by alternative sources that respect our environment. Squalene is widely present as a component of the unsaponifiable fraction of vegetable oils (i.e., olive oil, amaranth oil). Amaranth oil seems to be the key source of squalene. Amaranth grains contains 7-7.7% lipids, and these lipids are extremely valuable because of the presence of ingredients like squalene, unsaturated fatty acids, vitamin E as tocopherols, tocotrienols, and phytosterols, which are not seen together in other common oils. In human skin physiology, squalene is not only used as an antioxidant, moisturizer, and material for topically applied vehicle, but is also used in treating skin disorders like seborrheic dermatitis, acne, psoriasis, or atopic dermatitis. Further studies on alternative sources are needed to explore the utility of squalene for treating skin.

Salivary lysosomal exoglycosidases profiles in patients with insulin-dependent and noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND: In this study we have investigated the effects of type I (insulin-dependent) and II (non-insulin dependent) diabetes mellitus on the specific activity and the output of salivary exoglycosidases: N-acetyl-ß-hexosoaminidase (HEX), and its isoenzymes A and B (HEX A, HEX B), and ß-glucuronidase (GLU) in well controlled diabetic patients compared to healthy age-matched controls. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In the saliva HEX, HEX A, HEX B and GLU were determined according to Marciniak et al. Protein was determined by the Lowry et al. method. RESULTS: Our results show that in the case of type I diabetes, the significantly increased activity of salivary total HEX is mainly due to the significantly increased HEX A specific activity. Significantly increased HEX specific activity in DM II is an outcome of significantly increased HEX A as well as HEX B specific activities in comparison to the appropriate healthy control. Our results showed a significant increase in the specific activity of GLU in saliva of type II diabetes patients. The output of lysosomal exoglycosidases showed a similar significant increase compared to the healthy control, in both groups of diabetes mellitus patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study has demonstrated that non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus more strongly modify salivary glands glycoconjugates catabolism, which can be attributed to functional and morphological changes. A significant increase in the outputs of exoglycosidases in saliva of both type diabetes patients once more indicates that special attention should be paid to the oral health of these patients.