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Introduction: Caries risk assessment is the essential step in the modern clinical approach to caries management. It is a basic prerequisite for the development of preventive measures and strategies for the primary prevention of caries. Its reliability is conditioned by the knowledge of relevant caries risk factors - indicators and predictors of caries. Aim: After reviewing the available literature, the paperwork aimed to analyse the importance of salivary levels of cationic antimicrobial peptides as indicators and predictors of caries in children, i.e., their possible role in caries risk assessment in children. Material and methods: The analysis included original articles in English which studied the association of salivary levels of cationic antimicrobial peptides with caries in children. Three databases were selected: PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, and the search was performed using the following keywords: saliva cationic peptides /antimicrobial peptides /AMP/ defensins/ cathelicidin/histatin/statherin/adrenomedullin/azurocidin AND dental caries AND children/children age. Conclusion: Cationic antimicrobial peptides could be important caries risk indicators in children. Unfortunately, there is currently no reliable evidence of their caries predictive value. Well-designed cross-sectional and long-term longitudinal studies are still required to clarify the significance of salivary cationic antimicrobial peptides as reliable caries risk indicators and caries predictors in children. At the same time, this would define their significance as caries risk biomarkers and their potential application in caries risk assessment in children.

Introduction: Salivary gland tumors are extremely rare neoplasms. Given their pathohistological image, these tumors represent a great diagnostic challenge. The aim of our study was to differentiate these three tumor types by applying the immunohistochemical and morphometric analysis. Material and Methods: The entire study was conducted at the Center for Pathology and Pathological Anatomy in Niš. The study included 44 tumors, 20 pleomorphic adenomas, 12 basal cells adenomas and 12 polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinomas. The expression of Ki67, p53 and HER-2 antigens, as proliferation markers, was analyzed. The differential diagnostics also included the analysis of the expression of CEA, EMA, GFAP, p63, vimentin, CK14, α-SMA, S-100 protein and WT1 antigen. The morphometric analysis was done in the program pack 'ImageJ' version 1.43u. The statistical analysis of data was done in the program pack SPSS 15.0. Results: Neoplastic cells in pleomorphic adenoma showed a strong expression of GFAP (20/20), p63 (20/20), WT1 (20/20), vimentin (18/20) and S100 (16/20). Diffuse expression of CK14 (12/12) was present in the group of 12 polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinomas. S-100, vimentin and EMA were absolutely expressed, whereas α-SMA was negative. Basal cell adenoma showed negativity to S-100, CEA, p63 and vimentin. The analysis of the proliferative Ki67 index values pointed to a statistically significant difference in the pleomorphic adenoma group, which was associated with a frequent recurrence of this benign tumor. The analysis of morphometric characteristics showed higher values in the polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma group, but statistically significant differences were found only for the Feret diameter and the integrated optical density (p < 0.05). As for the basal cell adenoma group, tumor cells showed statistically higher values for the integrated optical density (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Apart from the basic micromorphological analysis, the differential analysis of salivary gland tumors also requires the immunohistochemical analysis as well as the monitoring of morphometric characteristics of these tumors' nuclei.