Proteomic profile of saliva collected directly from ducts: a systematic review

Objective To present a systematic review that provides updated information about proteins found in salivary fluid extracted strictly from ducts. Methods The systematic review probing strategy was based on electronic databases word search (PubMed, EMBASE, LILACS, Web of Science, and Scopus). Risk of bias was assessed based on Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Studies Reporting Prevalence Data. Results After 2 rounds of scrutiny, 12 articles were included, totaling 231 individuals (125 were healthy, 41 were elder individuals with radicular caries, 56 had primary Sjogren's syndrome, and 9 were patients who had received radiotherapy for head and neck cancer). The selected studies had no similarities among proteins found, demonstrating the need of standard reference in experimental methodology to obtain a thorough coverage of proteins. Conclusion Further studies are required to better determine the relative amount of proteins described in this study. It is essential to increase the number of samples, to perform similar collection techniques, to include other analyses methods such as mass spectrometry, and to perform the validation of some proteins using immunoassay techniques such as Elisa and Western blot.