Determination of adenine nucleotides and their metabolites in human saliva

The profile and normal concentrations of nucleotide metabolites in human sa liva and reproducibility of these determinations were analyzed. Samples of human saliva collected from healthy individuals at weekly intervals, were d eproteinized and analysed for the content of adenine nucleotides and their metabolites by reversed-phase HPLC. Initial ATP, hypoxanthine and uric acid concentrations were 0.52 +/- 0.15 mu M, 1.91 +/- 0.37 mu M and 184 +/- 22 mu M respectively. A substantial individual variation persisted within 3 we eks of sampling excepted hypoxanthine which showed some unrelated variation s. Determination of nucleotides and their catabolites in saliva due to its simplicity and reproducibility, may be of clinical value in diagnosis of fo cal or systemic disorders.