Biochemical differences in parotid saliva distinguish patients with glossopyrosis from those with oropyrosis: Are there also neurochemical differences?

Patients with oral burning have been lumped into a clinical diagnosis of burning mouth syndrome (BMS). However, biochemical differences in parotid saliva distinguish patients with BMS glossopyrosis (lingual burning only) from those with oropyrosis (burning in many oral tissues). We evaluated saliva biochemistry in patients with BMS and compared results to normals. While saliva zinc was similar to normal in all patients with BMS, patients with glossopyrosis had significantly lower levels of saliva zinc than those with oropyrosis. Saliva copper and magnesium were significantly lower than normal in all patients with BMS but patients with glossopyrosis had significantly lower levels of saliva copper and magnesium than those with oropyrosis. Levels of saliva cAMP, cGMP and nitric oxide were also significantly lower than normal in all patients with BMS but saliva cGMP and nitric oxide were lower in patients with glossopyrosis than those with oropyrosis. These results indicate that patients with glossopyrosis are distinguishable from those with oropyrosis by differences in saliva biochemistry. Since salivary secretions are controlled in part by central nervous system function these results suggest that these two distinct disorders not only have different clinical and biochemical manifestations but also possible differences in brain neurochemistry.