To study biochemical indicators of the hematosalivary barrier operation in varying activity of articular inflammation and their correlations.
Biochemical indices of mixed saliva and peripheral blood were studied in 38 healthy subjects and 99 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Optimal composition of the saliva was abnormal. It lost its buffer function. In RA, permeability of the hematosalivary barrier for cholesterol, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium declines with growing activity of the process with resultant lowering of their content in the saliva, their blood levels being unchanged.
Decreased permeability of the hematosalivary barrier results from growing sympathetic influence on the salivary glands reflecting the presence of the autonomic dysfunction in RA. It is pathogenetically related to the process activity.