Salivary markers of hepato-metabolic comorbidities in pediatric obesity.

Background: The pediatric obesity epidemic calls for the noninvasive detection of individuals at higher risk of complications.

Aims: To investigate the diagnostic role of combined salivary uric acid (UA), glucose and insulin levels to screen noninvasively for metabolic syndrome (MetS) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Methods: Medical history, clinical, anthropometric, and laboratory data including serum triglyceride, glucose, insulin, HOMA, HDL-cholesterol, and UA levels of 23 obese children (15 with [St+] and 8 without [St-] ultrasonographic hepatic steatosis) and 18 normal weight controls were considered.