High serum procalcitonin levels in patients with periodontitis and chronic migraine.

BACKGROUND

To evaluate the contribution of chronic periodontitis (CP) to serum procalcitonin (proCT) levels in chronic migraine (CM) patients in a cross-sectional study.

METHODS

We included 138 subjects divided into 4 groups based on clinical features of CM and periodontal parameters: systemically and periodontally healthy individuals (n = 37), systemically healthy and CP patients (n = 19), CM and periodontally healthy patients (n = 34), and CM+CP patients (n = 48). Demographic, neurological, clinical data as well as full-mouth periodontal records were obtained. ProCT and high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) serum levels were determined from blood samples taken during migraine interictal period.

RESULTS

Patients from the CP+CM group (0.056±0.006 ng/mL) had significantly higher serum proCT levels in comparison with the systemically and periodontally healthy group (0.029±0.019 ng/mL), CM group (0.041±0.002 ng/mL), or CP group (0.034±0.014 ng/mL) (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in hs-CRP between groups (p = 0.081). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that CP was associated with increased proCT levels in CM patients (R2  = 0.293, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

CP independently contributes to elevated serum proCT levels in CM patients. These findings suggest that CP could play a role in migraine chronification.