Periodontal health and serum, saliva matrix metalloproteinases in patients with mild chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The present case-control study aimed to evaluate comparatively the salivary and serum levels of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-8 and- 13 and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) in patients with mild chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and non-COPD controls.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Clinical periodontal measurements were recorded before any periodontal intervention in 36 patients with mild COPD and 20 non-COPD controls admitted to Ege University Department of Chest Diseases COPD outpatient clinic (İzmir, Turkey). Salivary and serum levels of MMP-8, MMP-13, and TIMP-1 were determined by immunofluorometric assay (IFMA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Data were analyzed with non-parametric statistical tests.

RESULTS: Patients with COPD were significantly older than the control group (p < 0.05). The COPD group showed significantly higher serum levels of MMP-8 IFMA, MMP-8/TIMP-1 IFMA than the control group (p < 0.005). By ELISA, serum MMP-8, MMP-8/TIMP-1, TIMP-1, and MMP-13 levels were similar in both groups (p > 0.05). Salivary MMP-8, MMP-13, and TIMP-1 levels were similar in both groups (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: The present findings suggest that immunodetection of MMP-8 is dependent on the selected techniques and even with mild COPD some systemic inflammatory markers such as MMP-8 tend to increase. However, the present clinical periodontal and biochemical findings do not provide support for the previously proposed interaction between COPD and periodontal diseases.