Use of Saliva in Animal Physiology
A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Physiology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026 | Viewed by 11
Special Issue Editors
Interests: biomarkers of health; behavioural experiment; salivary biomarkers; stress; animal welfare; behaviour; horse
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: clinical pathology; non-invasive samples; One Health; education
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In recent decades, there has been significant interest in using saliva as a biological fluid for determining different physiological states in animals by identifying and quantifying the biomarkers within it. Saliva can be obtained using minimally invasive procedures according to actual welfare standards, unlike blood. Some biomarkers in the blood can be identified in saliva, and they have similar patterns of change at different physiological conditions. Additionally, other biomarkers can be evaluated differently in saliva compared to in the blood, and some can only be observed in saliva. Therefore, measuring salivary biomarkers can provide invaluable information for explaining or understanding the different physiological changes in animals under varying conditions.
I invite you to submit studies to this new Special Issue of Animals, which aims to increase knowledge in animal physiology mechanisms by showcasing studies investigating salivary biomarkers that can monitor different physiological conditions. These include healthy status, diseases states, welfare compromise, endocrine probes, metabolic states, and exercise physiology, among others.
This Special Issue welcomes original research articles and reviews covering topics including (but not limited to) behavioural sciences, sport sciences, neurophysiology, animal welfare science, animal health, internal medicine, and endocrinology.
I look forward to receiving your contributions.
Prof. Dr. María Dolores Contreras-Aguilar
Prof. Dr. Asta Tvarijonaviciute
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- biomarkers
- saliva
- animal physiology
- welfare
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