The Importance of Saliva for Biomolecule Sampling

The oral compartment is an interesting source of biomolecules that could support or even replace blood sampling. Although having the evident advantage of minimal invasiveness, saliva employment for biomarker recovery did not gain ground because it was believed that only few blood molecules could be recovered from saliva. Recent evidence shows that, not only most blood molecules can be found in saliva but also that in saliva there are molecules not present in blood. Moreover saliva contains molecules coming from distant sites such as exosomes. Here we discuss recent evidence that makes saliva promising for biomarker sampling.