Abstract
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To determine correlation between the Salivary Urea levels with that of Blood Urea levels. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Subjects were selected from patients undergoing haemodialysis and patients who had underwent kidney transplantation at Ashwini Hospitals Guntur. The study comprised of 45 patients, of which Haemodialysis group (HD) with 20 patients, Transplant (T) group with 15 patients and 10 patients in control group. Samples of blood and saliva were taken from all the patients to assess the Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) and Salivary Urea (SU) levels respectively under strict aseptic precautions. Blood was collected just prior to the dialysis in HD group and in renal transplant (T) patients during their review visit. Informed consent was taken from patients and ethical committee approval taken. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference between Blood Urea and Salivary Urea levels in the HD and T group (p<0.05). There was a statistically significant difference between T and Control group with respect to Blood Urea and Salivary Urea levels. The salivary urea levels are slightly higher than blood urea levels in all the study groups. CONCLUSION: The salivary urea tests can be used in place of blood tests as a non invasive diagnostic tool. Thus, preventing the unnecessary and periodic withdraw of blood which is not only cumbersome but also leads to recurrent infections.