Saliva Sample Collection and Handling Instructions

Saliva, an extracellular fluid produced and secreted by salivary glands, is composed of water, mucus, proteins, electrolytes, and amylase, where also stores a large amount of diverse DNA, RNA, and proteins of microorganisms and tissue cells from the oral cavity and some other parts of the body. Besides the complex biological information that saliva samples can provide, saliva collection is convenient, non-invasive, highly reproducible, and inexpensive, which makes saliva a highly available and preferred material for biological or medical research. With the research progress in the fields of salivary genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, microbiome, metabolomics, and miRNA, saliva detection has become a more practical and reliable method for the recognition and early diagnosis of certain oral and systemic diseases.

Saliva samples can be used for a variety of diagnostic applications. For instance, buccal epithelial cells and white blood cells can be found in saliva and DNA can be extracted from them, saliva DNA can be used to test for biomarkers to diagnose disease, track disease progression or monitor the effectiveness of specific treatments. Saliva DNA can also be used to diagnose certain types of infections, which makes saliva samples an alternative of other biospecimens including blood samples and tissue samples.

Saliva sample collection is non-invasive, and there is no need for complex training and special equipment. Our saliva sample collection products are easy to use and the samples can be compatible with various downstream processing, including DNA extraction, RNA extraction, PCR, Southern blotting, sequencing, and microarray. This saliva sample collection and handling instructions are specialized to address the requirements of obtaining saliva samples for lab research.

How to Collect Saliva Samples?

Use devices with collection funnel:

1. Rinse month with clean water to remove food residue 30 minutes before the saliva collection and let saliva collect in the mouth for at least 1 minute.

2. Label the collection devices on the tube.

3. Drool into the labeled collection devices through the funnel until reaching required amount.

4. Close the collection funnel lid tightly (for DNA/RNA Collection Device only) and unscrew the funnel from the tube.

5. Close the tube tightly with the cap.

6. Turn the collection tube up and down for 10 seconds to mix saliva.

7. The sample is ready for downstream processing.

8. OR Seal the tube into a biological sample collection bag for preservation or shipment.

Use devices with collection funnel:

1. Rinse month with clean water to remove food residue 30 minutes before the saliva collection.

2. Label the collection devices on the tube.

3. Take out the cotton swab out of the collection tube with sterilized tweezers.

4. Place the swab into the mouth for about 1 minute to let the swab absorb saliva.

5. Take out the cotton swab from the oral cavity and replace the swab to the tube carefully with the tweezers.

6. Put the test tube with the cotton swab into a centrifuge, and centrifuge it for 2 minutes at 1,000 x g.

7. The saliva is centrifuged to the bottom of the tube, and the sample recovered is ready for downstream processing.

8. OR Seal the tube into a biological sample collection bag for preservation or shipment.

Sample Collection Notice

• The specimens should be frozen then shipped on dry-ice.
• The specimens should be handed in as soon as possible, the time consumption should be NO MORE THAN 7 days.