enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) Kits (Thermo Fisher Scientific),
following the manufacturer’s instructions. For the second series of
submandibular glands, total tau (Thermo Fisher Scientific), and levels of
phosphorylated tau detected by pT231 (Thermo Fisher Scientific) and pS396
(Thermo Fisher Scientific) were quantified. All steps were performed at room
temperature. Optical density of each well was measured immediately after adding
Stop Solution using a plate reader set at an absorbance of 450 nm for 1 second;
sample concentrations were calculated against the generated standard curves.
total tau and S396 data were then adjusted to ng tau/mg sample protein, while
T231 data were adjusted to T231 units/mg sample protein.