Chronic inflammation among obese adults and children drives risks for Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease
Risks for obesity and its inflammation-driven complications, including pre-diabetes, metabolic syndrome, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerosis and stroke, are not equally distributed among adults in US cities, nor are children equally at risk as they develop. There is substantial evidence that some components of cardiometabolic risk are transmitted through molecular mechanisms such as unresolved chronic inflammation; as well as social and family structures, the built environment, and disparities of health care access; each component of which can be modified by pervasive racism, socioeconomic inequality, stigma, social exclusion and other macro-level, sociological forces.
In collaboration with the Forsyth Institute, we have developed salivary diagnostics for precision medicine, as a non-invasive alternative to blood cytokine profiles and abnormal metabolism screening for risk for obesity and cardiometabolic disease, in non-hospital settings. Immunometabolic analytes critical for metabolic diagnoses are accurately and sensitively detectable in saliva comparable to blood. Saliva collection, a non-invasive method, is preferred to blood especially in children; it can be done at home and without a phlebotomist. This new diagnostic tool should provide accurate and non-invasive metabolism monitoring for at-risk populations. The use of saliva rather than blood, and collection at home in addition to the clinic, should lower barriers to precision medicine for vulnerable populations who are currently least able to take advantage of these tools.
