Saliva Test Introduction

The test for saliva is a lateral flow immunochromatographic  strip test designed to detect the presence of human salivary amylase, an enzyme found in human saliva; the enzyme’s physiological role is to aid in the digestion of dietary starches. The test for saliva is specific and has numerous advantages over current enzymatic methods for amylase detection, including increased sensitivity, specificity, and speed. Current enzyme activity-based methods for saliva detection are not specific for human saliva and cross react with bacterial, fungal and pancreatic amylase, which all score positive when enzymatic assays for amylase activity are used for saliva detection. The test for saliva uses two anti-human salivary amylase, monoclonal antibodies, in a lateral flow format, that detects the presence of salivary amylase, rather than the activity of the enzyme.