Résumé : Previous epidemiological studies have shown that the diabetic population has a poor oral status compared to healthy subjects. While changes of the local microcirculation observed during diabetes can somehow explain periodontal pathologies this hypothesis does not stand for the carious decay. We propose the hypothesis that the increase of carious incidence might be linked to changes in the salivary composition, such as an increase of salivary glucose concentrations.The amount of glucose in saliva has been widely discussed in various scientific articles. Subsequently, we performed an initial study that allowed us to confirm that the concentration and excretion of glucose in the saliva were higher in diabetic patients compared to normal patients. In diabetic patients, the relative increase in salivary glucose concentration is even comparable to the rise of blood glucose.We conducted experimental studies in animals in order to investigate the presence and the level of expression of glucose transporters (GLUT1, GLUT2, GLUT4, SGLT1) in rat parotid glands. Through immunohistochemical labeling techniques, gene expression studies and protein expression studies, we demonstrated that GLUT1, GLUT4 and SGLT1 were found in rat parotid glands of normal and diabetic rats. Functional studies targeting the activity and the flux through those glucose transporters strengthened our hypothesis on the potential role of glucose transporter in salivary glucose.This original work introduce for the first time the hypothesis of a secretion mechanism of glucose by the salivary glands through GLUT1 & SGLT1 transporters, the first one being located on the apical and baso-lateral membranes of acinar cells, while the second one is located on the baso-lateral membrane. Secretion of glucose by the parotid gland is no longer at any doubt even though further studies must now specify the specific mechanisms.