Introduction: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is defined as any degree of glucose intolerance with onset during pregnancy and is associated with increased feto-maternal morbidity. Chronic inflammation has been implicated in the pathogenesis of GDM. Saliva being a biofluid can serve as a non-invasive and economical alternative to serum for diagnosing various local and systemic diseases.
Objectives: To assess the relationship between salivary inflammatory biomarkers and GDM.
Methodology: A PICOS framework was developed and keywords used to electronically search the relevant literature in PubMed. Four relevant and authentic articles were included which are written in English and published from 2011 to 2023.
Result: Obesity and GDM in pregnant patients have been found to be associated with raised salivary inflammatory biomarker. A direct relationship was observed between GDM and salivary inflammatory biomarkers.
Conclusion: GDM have a recognized association with systemic inflammation, and they are also at risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes. Saliva provides an easy, non-invasive, cost effective alternative to frequent serum inflammatory markers estimation. This review shows the potential of salivary inflammatory biomarkers as an adjunctive to serum biomarker and a potential scope of further research on larger more homogeneous populations, preferably following a longitudinal design to form statistically sound recommendations.
Keywords: pregnancy, pregnant females, gestational females, gestation, saliva, inflammatory biomarkers, inflammatory mediators, gestational diabetes mellitus, GDM, pregnancy-induced diabetes mellitus
