The salivary alpha‑amylase concentration in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A case–control study

Abstract

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most common chronic inflammatory diseases.
Previous studies have reported an association between stress and salivary alpha‑amylase. The aim
of this study was to investigate the concentration of salivary alpha‑amylase in patients with RA (by
elimination of stress factor).
Materials and Methods: In this case–control study, we enrolled 50 patients with RA and 48 healthy
patients as the control group. The perceived stress scale questionnaire was used to evaluate scores
of stress in both case and control groups, and then the participants with high scores of stress were
excluded from the study. Moreover, the alpha‑amylase activity kit was used for the assessment of
the levels of salivary alpha‑amylase. In all analyses, the significance level was considered to be < 0.05.
Finally, the obtained data were analyzed by SPSS22.
Results: Our results indicated a high score of stress in the case group (19.42 ± 5.83 units) compared
with the control group (18.02 ± 6.07 units) which was not statistically significant (P < 0.248). Moreover,
we demonstrated a high salivary alpha‑amylase concentration in the case group (340.65 ± 38.04 units)
compared to the control group (302.62 ± 58.72 units), which was statistically significant (P < 0.001).
The sensitivity and specificity of this method, at >312 alpha‑amylase concentrations, were 80% and
46%, respectively.
Conclusion: In general, we indicated that the alpha‑amylase concentration in patients with RA is
higher than the healthy controls, and can be used as a codiagnostic factor.
Key Words: Rheumatoid arthritis, salivary alpha‑amylases, stress disorder