Saliva proteomic profile of early childhood caries and caries-free children

Saliva plays an important antimicrobial role and it is related to the pathogenesis of early childhood caries (ECC). The aim of this study was to compare the proteomic profile of unstimulated saliva of children aged 3–5 years who had ECC and caries-free (CF) children. After the saliva collection from 20 children (ECC: <i>n</i> = 10; CF: <i>n</i> = 10), the samples were processed for proteomic analysis on a mass spectrometer. 1638 proteins were identified, of which 355 were present in both groups. A total of 579 proteins were exclusively identified in the CF group and included Leucine-rich alpha-2-glycoprotein, Protein S100-A5, Protein S100-A8 and Mucin-2. Moreover, 704 proteins were exclusively identified in the ECC group, including Enamelin. The differential expression analysis revealed that 112 proteins were up-regulated in the CF group. Among these proteins, we highlighted Hemoglobin subunit gamma-1 (343-fold increase), gamma-2 (336-fold increase) and alpha (40-fold increase). The proteomic profile of the saliva varied substantially between the groups. Hemoglobin subunit gamma-1, gamma-2 and alpha may play a protective role in children with ECC. These proteins should be evaluated in future studies, because they may be possible good candidates to be included in anti-caries dental products.