Impact of Fungiform Papillae Count on Taste Perception and Different Methods of Taste Assessment and their Clinical Applications: A comprehensive review

Salivary biomarkers are indicators of many biological and pathological conditions and provide further information regarding the early detection of diseases. This bibliometric analysis aims to identify and evaluate the scientific literature addressing salivary biomarkers from a dental perspective, to identify the most prolific organizations, authors, journals, countries, and keywords used within this research domain. An electronic search was performed using Elsevier’s Scopus database. From a total of 587 retrieved papers (published between 1997 and 2021), 399 were selected. For the data analysis and its visualization, the title of the articles, year of publication, countries, authors, journals, articles, and keywords were analyzed using Microsoft Excel and VOSviewer (a bibliometric software program). An increase in the number of publications was identified from 1997 to 2021. The United States (U.S.) published the most papers (84) and received the highest citations (3778), followed by India and Brazil. The Journal of Periodontology published the highest number of articles (39) that received the highest citations. The University of Kentucky from the U.S. published most of the papers related to salivary biomarkers that received the highest citations. Timo Sorsa published the most papers (14 papers), while Craig Miller was the highest cited author (754 citations). Concerning the highly cited papers, a paper by Micheal et al., published in 2010, received the highest citations (487 citations). “Saliva”, followed by “human”, were the most common keywords used by the authors in the papers related to salivary biomarkers. The findings of this analysis revealed an increase in salivary biomarker-related publications that positively influenced the number of citations each paper received. The U.S. produced the most publications that received the highest citations, and the University of Kentucky, U.S., was the most prominent. The articles were mostly published in the Journal of Periodontology and received the highest number of citations.

Background: Fixation of biopsy specimens is a critical step before processing and staining them for histological tissue examination. Formalin is considered the gold standard fixative solution for its attributes. However, it has concerning side effects, such as carcinogenic and potential irritational properties. Owing to its various harmful effects, a safer natural substitute should be explored. In this study, we compared the effectiveness of propolis to 10% formalin and determined its ability as a natural fixative solution. Materials and Methods: Sixty tissue specimens were collected from goats’ tongues and immediately placed in (1) 6.6% propolis, (2) 10% natural buffered formalin (positive control), (3) 6.6% propolis followed by 10% formalin, and (4) 0.9% saline (negative control). Tissue samples were fixed at different time points (12, 24, 48, and 72 h) at room temperature, followed by processing and staining. The quality of the microscopic parameters was blindly assessed by two oral and maxillofacial pathologists using a numerical scoring scale. Scores were statistically analyzed. Results: The fixation of tissue samples placed in 6.6% propolis was statistically significantly better than that of samples placed in 10% formalin and 0.9% saline at different time points. Conclusion: Propolis showed promising fixation properties and can be considered a natural alternative to 10% formalin.

In the field of medicine, diagnosing diseases involves various steps, procedures, and protocols. Histopathological examination remains the gold standard for a definitive and accurate diagnosis. This process relies on an initial step of tissue fixation.