Methods: In this longitudinal clinical investigation 100 human subjects were enrolled that were clinically diagnosed as possessing health, gingivitis, mild periodontitis or moderate-severe periodontitis. Eight sites from each patient were harvested for GCF, along with clinical measurements (PD, CAL, BOP and radiographic bone level). Patients were monitored over 2 month intervals during a 6 month non-treatment PDP phase. GCF samples were analyzed through quantitative antibody microarrays (CRP, MMP-8, MMP-9, OPG, IL-1β) and ELISA (ICTP, Calprotectin) for GCF biomarkers to predict PDP.
Results: At all time points, statistically significant differences were seen in the levels of IL-1β between the healthy/gingivitis groups compared to the periodontitis groups (p<0.01). With the exception of baseline, significant differences in MMP-8 and MMP-9 were observed at months 4, and 6 between the healthy/gingivitis groups compared to the periodontitis groups (p<0.01). Between group differences in the levels of CRP was not consistently observed at any of the time points.
Conclusion: GCF levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, MMP-8 and MMP-9 were predictive for periodontally diseased individuals as compared to healthy and gingivitis patients. These biomarkers offer potential in the determining of risk assessment for PDP. This study was supported by NIH/NIDCR U01-DE014961 and NCRR UL1RR024986. Clinical Trial Registration (Clinicaltrials.gov: CT00277745).
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