Effect of Gingival Inflammation on the Inflammatory Response in Patients With Idiopathic Uveitis

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the levels of eleven oral species in plaque samples and cytokine levels in biofluid samples of patients with idiopathic uveitis (IU) and systemically healthy individuals (H) with or without gingival inflammation.
Methods: Twenty-one patients with idiopathic uveitis (n=21) and twenty-two systemically healthy individuals (n=22) were enrolled in the study. Clinical periodontal measurements were recorded. Interleukin-17 (IL-17) IL-6, IL-10 and tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) levels in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF), saliva and serum samples were determined by ELISA. Bacterial counts of P. gingivalis, T. denticola, T. forsythia, A. actinomycetemcomitans, P. intermedia, F. nucleatum, P. micra, A. naeslundi, V. dispar, S. oralis, S. mutans were determined by qPCR on plaque microbial DNA preparations. Differences between the study groups were analyzed using the t-test, whereas correlations between the cytokine levels and clinical periodontal parameters were assessed using Spearman’s correlation test.
Results: GCF, serum and salivary TNF-α, IL-17A, IL-17A/E; GCF and serum IL-6; salivary IL-17F and salivary, serum IL-17A/F levels were higher in the IU group than the H group (p<0.05). However, serum IL-10 and IL-17E levels were higher in the H group than the IU group (p<0.05). Plaque and gingival index scores correlated positively with salivary and serum levels and GCF amounts of TNF-α (p<0.05). A. actinomycetemcomitans, F. nucleatum, S. oralis, A. naeslundi and V. dispar counts were higher in IU group compared to H group (p<0.05).
Conclusions: Altered local and systemic cytokine profiles are associated with differences in the microbial plaque composition in IU. Anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-10 and IL-17E are reduced in patients with IU and Th-1 and Th-17 driven inflammatory responses in biofluids are altered. Gingival inflammation may have a contributing role in the pathogenesis of IU.