Challenges and Perspectives on Biosensors for Highly Sensitive Quantification of Salivary Troponins: A Review

Troponins are recognized as one of the most specific and sensitive biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of acute coronary syndromes. The use of troponins as acute cardiac isquemic biomarkers impacts positively on the treatment costs and on the mortality rate due to cardiovascular diseases. Nowadays, efforts have been made to develop new methods to detect and quantify troponins in a non-invasive way, reducing the need for blood samples and venipuncture. Saliva started to be increasingly recognized as an attractive diagnostic fluid. However, the challenges in achieving statistically significant correlations between saliva and serum concentrations, the limitations dealing with this high viscosity fluid and the background interferences, have limited the application of biosensors for troponin quantification in saliva. This review briefly approaches the mechanisms of troponin release and reports the methods found in literature for detection of troponin in saliva. Finally, the authors present a discussion of the challenges and perspectives on this topic.