AUTHOR=Iyengar Anjali , Paulus Jessica K. , Gerlanc Daniel J. , Maron Jill L. 

TITLE=Detection and Potential Utility of C-Reactive Protein in Saliva of Neonates

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pediatrics

VOLUME=Volume 2 - 2014

YEAR=2014

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pediatrics/articles/10.3389/fped.2014.00131

DOI=10.3389/fped.2014.00131

ISSN=2296-2360

ABSTRACT=Objective:  We aimed to detect CRP in neonatal saliva and evaluate its diagnostic utility. 
Study Design: Salivary and serum samples (n=89) were collected from 40 neonates.  Salivary CRP levels were determined using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA); serum CRP was measured per hospital protocol.  Correlation coefficients with 95% confidence intervals and robust linear regression measured association while receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curves described the accuracy of salivary CRP in discriminating abnormal serum CRP thresholds of ≥ 10 mg/L and 5 mg/L.  Corresponding sensitivities and specificities were calculated for these salivary cutpoints.    
Results: The Area Under the Curve (AUC) for salivary CRP in predicting serum CRP levels of ≥ 10 mg/L and 5mg/L were 0.81 and 0.76, respectively.  The corresponding sensitivity and specificity for raw salivary CRP to discriminate a serum CRP of ≥ 5 mg/L was 0.54 and 0.95, respectively.  The corresponding sensitivity and specificity for raw salivary CRP to discriminate a serum CRP of ≥ 10 mg/L was 0.64 and 0.94, respectively.  A statistically significant correlation was observed between serum and salivary CRP (r = 0.62, p < 0.001).  
Conclusions: CRP is detectable in neonatal saliva and can predict abnormal serum CRP thresholds.  Salivary CRP analysis represents a feasible screening tool for detecting abnormal serum CRP levels.