Saliva Collection Kits

What Are Saliva Collection Kits Used For?

Saliva collection kits come as individually packaged units which contain a saliva collection device and a tube of DNA/RNA Shield reagent. The saliva collection devices are plastic tubes with a spit funnel screwed on top of a tube for the collection of about 2mL of saliva; the corresponding tube contains 2mL of reagent to be subsequently added to collected saliva. All saliva collection kits are designed to stabilize and preserve the specimen at room temperature during transport prior to analytical testing. Saliva collection devices come labeled with safety and proper usage instructions.

Saliva collection kits are for stabilization, transport, and subsequent isolation of DNA and/or RNA from human or mammalian whole saliva specimen for nucleic acid-based analysis, this includes next-generation sequencing and PCR-based methodologies (i.e. transcriptional gene expression analysis).

Some advantages of the saliva collection kits include the ability to be able to collect saliva directly and conveniently into a tube and to subsequently add the included reagent which immediately lyses cells, both host and microbial, and stabilizes the nucleic acid in a single step. There is no additional step required to process the saliva collected with the saliva collection kits. These saliva collection devices can be input directly into most commercial purification kits and optimized for Zymo Research purification kits. The included reagent effectively takes a genetic snapshot of the nucleic acid in the saliva specimen which maintains global gene expression profiles for at least thirty days (RNA) at least 2 years (DNA) at room temperature. Specimen can be stored indefinitely when specimen collected are frozen.

Human saliva samples are collected using user-friendly instructions. Sample specimen can then be immediately processed, stored, or shipped within the same tube. With our saliva collection kits there is no need to transfer or aliquot into another device or perform additional processing.

What Analysis Is Completed Using a Saliva Sample?

Saliva has become a popular sample type for analysis and has been taking from the blood market primarily due to the ease of use for saliva specimen collection. Saliva collection kits have no need for needles like intravenous blood collection, and no specialized technician or healthcare worked needed to collect the saliva specimen. Also, saliva collection kits enable the same types of tests that are performed on blood specimens.

Saliva collection kits popularity can be seen in a wide range of diagnostic and lab tests – from genetic ancestry testing to dentistry applications. For the applications pertinent to the our saliva collection kits, most applications would fall under molecular nucleic acid testing. From the saliva collection kits, users have the ability to extract both DNA and RNA (both intracellular and extracellular). Meaning, this one saliva collection kit product allows for the analysis of essentially all types of nucleic acid from saliva.

Similar saliva collection kits on the market have one tube per analyte of interest (i.e. saliva collection kit specifically for intracellular RNA, and a saliva collection kit specific for intracellular DNA, etc.). Popular saliva collection kits applications for RNA are primarily for gene expression analysis and profiling. A research lab or clinic would do this via Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) methods to analyze their gene of interest.

Another popular application for saliva collection kits is Next-Gen Sequencing. Our saliva collection devices with reagent are able to provide high quality DNA and RNA for sensitive downstream applications. These two common types of methods are used for a broad range or applications which include cancer research, microbiome profiling, pathogen detection and surveillance, and immunology.

A growing area for saliva is that concerning Microbiomics. Understanding of the microbes in saliva and in the mouth has been implicated in various fields including dentistry. What has been a limiting factor is that there can be biased due to the collection method or misrepresented through sample processing. What is unique about our saliva collection kits is that the included reagent takes a genetic snapshot of all microbes in the sample and can seamlessly plug into a purification system which prevents any loss of microbial species due to collection and additional processing.

What's Next for Saliva Collection?

Saliva as a sample type has been proven to be a disruptor to the blood market as far as genomics is concerned. The ability to collect a specimen more easily by almost anyone and without the need for trained healthcare professionals has allowed the saliva market to flourish.

There are currently a few key companies outside of Zymo Research that produce saliva collection devices with some type of l preservation media – DNA Genotek, Spectrum Solutions, Isohelix - to name a few. These companies have been big players in the academic and direct-to-consumer space for saliva collection devices. And with the 2020-2021 pandemic all companies, including Zymo Research, have used their technologies to address saliva as a sample type for COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) diagnostics.

Due to the ease of use and effectiveness of saliva collection devices, we can expect even more applications to be introduced in the future.