English 
Italian Saliva: challenges, possibilities, and limits of the diagnostic use Part 1 – Anatomical and basic pathophysiological aspects
AUTORI
1 Department of Biomedical, Surgical and Dental Sciences, University of Milano, Milan, Italy
2 Foundation IRCCS Ca’Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Clinical Laboratory, Milan, Italy
ABSTRACT
This review presents a detailed description of the saliva physiology (sources, composition, regulation of secretion) illustrating the complexity of this body fluid and its relationship with the pathophysiology of many organs. The knowledge of these aspects are of paramount importance to deeply understand main sources of variability, in keeping under control the pre-analytical phase and also to try to explain some contradictory results found in literature. Saliva is a biofluid with very interesting advantages: it is easy to self-collect, transport, and store. It is expected that saliva will have a key future role in the diagnosis of many diseases (metabolic disorders, cancer, oral and dental diseases, etc.) and useful for point-of-care testing. Part I of this review is a basic introduction to the saliva biological complexity; part II will follow, dealing with issues related to the pre-analytical and analytical phase.