唾液と高齢者の健康 : 唾液成分の特徴と関連する因子について
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概要
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Geriatric dentistry and oral care are in the spotlight as the elderly population increases rapidly in Japan. It is known that proper oral care reduces the risk of pneumonia in inpatient elderly. Saliva plays important roles in mastication, swallowing, digestion and prevention of oral and systemic diseases. It is hypothesized that saliva is an appropriate index to evaluate health condition and the risk of aspiration pneumonia in elderly population. The purpose of this study was to investigate the following salivary compositions: mucin, albumin, histatin, human beta-defensin-2 (hBD-2), substance P and total protein, in young and elderly population. Relation of these parameter to nutritional state (body mass index (BMI), midarm muscle area), oral hygiene state (the number of detection of candida spp. in saliva), occlusal support state (Eichner index), and masticatory ability (Questionnaire on Masticatory Function) were also investigated. In the stimulated whole saliva, the concentrations of mucin, hBD-2, and substance P were lower than those in resting whole saliva. In the stimulated saliva, secretion of total protein was higher, while that of substance P was lower than those in the whole saliva under resting condition. In elderly and inpatient elderly groups, the concentrations of mucin, albumin, and total protein were higher than those of young group, and the concentration of histatin and substance P was low in the former group. Moreover, in inpatient elderly groups, the concentration of hBD-2 was higher than that of young and elderly groups. In the group with BMI less than 18.5, the concentration of substance P showed a tendency to be lower than that in elderly group with BMI higher than 18.5. No relationship was found between the concentration of each salivary compositions and occlusal support state. In the group with the numbers of detection of candida higher than 10^4 colony-forming unit (CFU), the concentration of hBD-2 was higher than that in groups with the numbers of detection of candida less than 10^4 CFU. No relationship was found between the concentration of each salivary compositions and masticatory ability.