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Salivary arecoline levels during areca nut chewing in human volunteers
Author(s) -
Cox Stephen,
Vickers Edward R.,
Ghu Sonia,
Zoellner Hans
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of oral pathology and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.887
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1600-0714
pISSN - 0904-2512
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0714.2009.00881.x
Subject(s) - arecoline , areca , saliva , nut , medicine , chewing gum , mastication , food science , chemistry , dentistry , receptor , muscarinic acetylcholine receptor , structural engineering , engineering
J Oral Pathol Med (2010) 39 : 465–469 Background: Arecoline stimulates cultured cells above 0.1 μg/ml and is cytotoxic above 10 μg/ml. Although this alkaloid seems important for areca nut induced oral carcinogenesis, little is known of the levels achieved during chewing. Materials and methods: Saliva was collected in 3‐ to 5‐min intervals over 50 min in 32 habitual chewers: before, for 25 min during, and for 20 min after chewing areca nut (0.5 g) without any other additives. Salivary arecoline was quantitated by HPLC‐MS. Controls comprised six subjects who denied areca nut use, and who were given rubber‐base material to chew during experiments instead. Results: Arecoline was detected before chewing in 22 subjects, exceeding the 0.1 μg/ml threshold in 20 cases. Salivary arecoline exceeded either the 0.1 or 10 μg/ml thresholds in all participants during chewing ( P < 0.001). Maximum concentrations ranged from 5.66 to 97.39 μg/ml. All subjects reached 0.1 μg/ml salivary arecoline in at least 85% of time points studied ( P < 0.0001), whereas 10 μg/ml was reached in 11 participants in at least 30% of the time points ( P < 0.003). Arecoline concentrations varied greatly over time between individuals, and levels were much lower when peak concentrations were reached before 3 min, than in cases where arecoline peaked later ( P < 0.02). No salivary arecoline was found in control saliva. Conclusions: Areca nut users have persistent background salivary arecoline levels long after chewing, whereas concentrations achieved are highly variable and consistent with a role in oral pre‐malignancy and malignancy.