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Salivary C-Reactive Protein: A Non-Invasive Alternative to Serum CRP in Pediatric Acute Appendicitis

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic potential of salivary C-reactive protein (CRP) as a non-invasive biomarker for acute appendicitis in children and to compare its levels with those found in blood. METHODS: = 43). Diagnostic performance was evaluated using receiver-operating characteristic analysis, while the agreement between salivary and serum CRP levels was evaluated using Spearman's correlation and the Bland-Altman method. RESULTS: < 0.001) and overall showed good agreement on Bland-Altman. Although larger discrepancies (>10 mg/L) occurred in 29% of cases, there was no consistent bias favoring either the salivary or serum CRP measurements. CONCLUSIONS: Salivary CRP is a promising non-invasive biomarker for diagnosing acute appendicitis in children, demonstrating diagnostic performance closely comparable to that of serum CRP and acceptable agreement between the two measures. This method may reduce the need for invasive blood sampling and streamline early evaluation in pediatric emergency settings.

Source: Molecules

DOI: 10.3390/molecules30163392