SALIVARY IGA CONCENTRATION IS INFLUENCED BY THE SALIVA COLLECTION METHOD

Measurement of salivary IgA is useful for the non-invasive assessment of secretory immunity, especially in children and infants. In our stud y, the influence of three commonly used methods ("spitting", "suction" , "Salivette") of saliva collection on the yield of salivary IgA conce ntration was analysed in 54 samples of salivary secretion collected fr om six healthy children according to a cross over protocol. Nephelomet rically determined IgA concentrations were significantly lower in sali va collected by the Salivette device (mean +/- SEM: 23 +/- 7 mg/l) tha n in saliva collected by the suction (46 +/- 8 mg/l) or spitting metho d (48 +/- 8 mg/l). Salivary flow assessed by the spitting method was i nversely correlated with salivary IgA concentration. We conclude that salivary IgA assessment is influenced by the saliva collection method, and that studies dealing with this topic should accurately describe t he method used for collecting saliva so that data may be properly comp ared.