Correlation between salivary IL-1beta levels and periodontal clinical status.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the concentration of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-1beta in saliva of periodontally diseased and healthy patients and their relationship with the periodontal status.

DESIGN

Unstimulated whole saliva samples from patients with chronic periodontitis (n=30), aggressive periodontitis (n=18) and healthy controls (n=18) were obtained for the study. The periodontal status of each subject was assessed by criteria based on probing depth, clinical attachment loss and the extent/severity of periodontal breakdown. The levels of IL-1beta were measured in saliva samples with a high sensitivity enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

RESULTS

Although no significant difference (P=0.624) was found for salivary IL-1beta levels between periodontitis groups, they were significantly greater (P<0.01) than those detected for healthy controls. Furthermore, Spearman correlation analysis showed statistically significant correlations (P<0.01) between data from salivary IL-1beta levels and clinical measurements.

CONCLUSION

The findings of the present study reemphasize the importance of whole saliva as sampling method in terms of immunological purposes in periodontal disease and suggest that the elevated IL-1beta concentration may be one of the host-response components associated to the clinical manifestations of periodontal disease.