Evaluation of Salivary Cytokines and Vitamin D Levels in Periodontopathic Patients

Abstract

Periodontal disease (PD) is an inflammatory condition of the tissues supporting the teeth, which is widespread among the adult population. Evidence shows a relationship between PD and vitamin D levels, which is involved in the regulation of bone metabolism, mineral homeostasis, and inflammatory response. This study aimed to perform a simultaneous evaluation of inflammatory mediators and vitamin D levels in saliva in periodontopathic patients to better understand their role in periodontal disease. In this observational study, clinical periodontal parameter examination was performed for each patient. Moreover, the saliva levels of 25(OH)D3, TGFβ, IL-35, IL-17A, and MMP9 were evaluated using an ELISA assay. An increase in TGFβ, IL-35, MMP9, and IL-17A salivary levels and a reduction in 25(OH)D3 levels were observed in periodontopathic patients with respect to the healthy controls. The present study revealed significant positive correlation between cytokines and highly negative correlation between 25(OH)D3 and salivary cytokine levels. Further studies are needed to better understand if salivary cytokines and vitamin D evaluation may represent a new approach for detection and prevention of progressive diseases, such as PD.

Vitamin D and Periodontitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Two articles [ 28 , 56 ] reported 91 aggressive periodontitis cases—one assessed the circulating 25(OH)D levels [ 28 ], and the other assessed salivary levels [ 56 ]. Quantitative analysis included a total of 10,506 subjects (subcategorised as 9718 periodontal healthy patients and 788 patients with chronic periodontitis) from 13 studies, of which three [ 33 , 57 , 58 ] assessed 25(OH)D levels through salivary samples, nine through serum levels [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 36 , 59 , 60 , 61 ], and one assessed both methods [ 62 ].…”

“…Furthermore, the levels of DBP were found to be lower in periodontitis cases, presumably due to the lack of effective production or an increase in local consumption [ 107 ]. The results on salivary levels show some heterogeneity among the studies, in particular [ 33 , 58 ], as well a low number of participants, which limits the validity of this finding. A possible explanation for the discrepancy between Miricescu et al, 2014 [ 58 ] and Costantini et al, 2020 [ 33 ] is the difference between mean age, gender distribution and periodontal diagnosis between these two studies.…”

“…The nutritional consequences of vitamin D levels on periodontal health represent a matter of interest [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. Over decades, lower vitamin D levels have been associated with higher periodontal destruction and severe periodontitis stages [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ]. Others supported the idea that patients with higher levels of vitamin D were related to less bleeding on probing (BoP) comparing to patients with lower levels [ 34 ].…”

Salivary Stress/Immunological Markers in Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis

“…Furthermore, the inflammatory actions of IL-6 have been largely demonstrated to be associated with intestinal inflammation induction in IBD [ 90 ]. The presence of inflammatory cytokines in saliva has been strongly correlated to IBD [ 21 , 36 , 37 ], but their concentrations may be also influenced by the state of the oral cavity, as oral inflammation and periodontitis are very common in patients with IBD [ 23 , 91 ]. In fact, higher frequencies of oral manifestations in patients with active IBD compared to controls and those with a nonactive disease have been assumed to be a possible result of altered cytokine activity in the gastrointestinal tract, including the oral cavity.…”

Salivary Biomarkers for Dental Caries Detection and Personalized Monitoring

“…The MMP-8, MMP-9, and TIMP-1 concentrations were determined by using commercial ELISA kits (BioVendor-Laboratorní medicína a.s., Brno, Czech Republic), according to the manufacturer’s instructions [ 47 , 48 ]. The calibration range was adapted for the determination of MMP-8 in saliva samples.…”