Salivary carbonic anhydrase VI concentration and its relation to basic characteristics of saliva in young men.

Two successive saliva samples were collected under strictly standardized conditions from 209 healthy, selected male soldiers prior to and after breakfast in the morning and were assayed for carbonic anhydrase (CA) VI concentrations using a specific time-resolved immunofluorometric assay. Salivary secretion rates, pH and buffer capacity pH values, and amylase activity levels were also determined. CA VI concentrations correlated positively to salivary secretion rates and amylase activity levels. By contrast, no significant correlation was seen between CA VI concentrations and pH or buffer capacity pH values, nor between amylase activity levels and salivary secretion rates, pH or buffer capacity pH values. The smokers had unaltered salivary secretion rates, CA VI and amylase activity levels, but lower salivary pH and buffer capacity pH values than the non-smokers. Present results suggest that salivary CA VI is not directly involved in the regulation of pH in saliva.