Salivary metabolites as potential predictive biomarkers for lung surgery complications: a retrospective cross-sectional study

Purpose: Saliva is often used as a tool for identifying systemic diseases because of the noninvasive nature of its collection. Moreover, salivary metabolites can be potential predictive factors for postoperative survival. We conducted the present study to establish whether salivary metabolites can function as predictive biomarkers for lung surgery complications. Methods: Unstimulated salivary samples were collected from 412 patients before lung surgery. Salivary metabolites were analyzed comprehensively by capillary electrophoresis mass spectrometry. Clinical data with the discriminatory ability of biomarkers were assessed to predict lung surgery complications using multivariate logistic regression analysis. The primary endpoint was the risk factors for postoperative complications of Clavien–Dindo grade ≥ III. Results: Postoperative complications of Clavien–Dindo grade ≥ III developed in 36 patients (8.7%). There was no postoperative 30-day mortality. Male sex (odds ratio [OR], 3.852; 95% confidence interval CI 1.455–10.199; p = 0.007) and salivary gamma-butyrobetaine (OR, 0.809; 95% CI 0.694–0.943; p = 0.007) were identified as significant risk factors for postoperative complications of Clavien–Dindo grade ≥ III. Conclusion: Salivary metabolites are potential noninvasive biomarkers for predicting postoperative complications of lung surgery.