Evaluation of the Activities of Salivary Superoxide Dismutase and Glutathione Peroxidase in Cellular Phone Users

Currently, use of cellular phones has increased dramatically. Therefore, there are major concerns about their effect on users’ health. Only a limited number of studies have evaluated the effect of cellular phones on salivary activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx).
The present study was performed to evaluate the salivary activities of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxide in cellular phone users.
The present cross-sectional study was carried out on 40 volunteers, with no oral diseases, who were assigned to the control (deaf subjects) and case (cellular phone users) groups. Salivary samples were collected from all subjects. The salivary activities of the two enzymes above were determined. Data were analyzed with the SPSS 21 software. Independent t-test was used to compare the two groups.
The salivary levels of SOD in the control and case groups were 128.9 ± 35.6 U/mL and 82.37 ± 32.3 U/mL, respectively, indicating a statistically significant difference (P = 0.000). There was no significant difference in salivary levels of GPx between the two groups (P = 0.3).
Based on the results of the present study, use of cellular phones resulted in a decrease in the activity of a component of the anti-oxidative system, decreasing the capacity to eliminate free radicals by the saliva; this makes the individual susceptible to inflammatory and malignant conditions.