UC San Diego

Huntington’s disease (HD) is an inherited, neurodegenerative disease characterized by cognitive, psychiatric, and motoric dysfunction, in which the timing and rate of disease progression can be difficult to assess. Recently, inflammatory molecules have been studied for various neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease, due to their role in neurodegeneration and immune system activation. In this study, we examined the feasibility of quantifying levels of cortisol, C-reactive protein, interleukin 6, and interleukin 1 in saliva. Next, we correlated these inflammatory biomarker levels in saliva with clinical measures. Lastly, we attempted to correlate salivary levels of the inflammatory biomarkers with levels found in plasma.

The results from this study show that measurement of inflammatory markers in saliva offers significant promise as relevant, non-invasive disease biomarkers for HD. Saliva samples can be collected efficiently and safely by minimally trained personnel, enabling frequent relatively inexpensive collections. Significant correlations between salivary inflammatory levels and measures of cognitive, motor, and functional ability indicate its relevance to the clinical state of the HD patient and offer promise for both clinical research and therapeutic treatment trials.