Are Salivary Cytokines of the Il-1 Family Biomarkers of Chronic Periodontitis?

Abstract

Subject. In recent systematic reviews, the question of the clinical value of cytokines of the interleukin-1 (IL-1) family in chronic periodontitis (CP) has been discussed. Some authors consider them to be reliable biomarkers, while others believe that although they allow differentiating gingivitis and severe CP, the quantity and quality of published works require further research in this area.
 The aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical value of the level of cytokines of the IL-1 family in chronic mild periodontitis.
 Methodology. All study participants were divided into two groups: main and control. The main group included 45 patients with mild chronic periodontitis, the control group consisted of 32 practically healthy volunteers without periodontal pathology. The concentration of IL-1α and IL-1β, IL-18, IL-1RA (receptor antagonist) in the oral fluid was determined by the method of multiparameter fluorescence analysis with magnetic microspheres (хMAP-technology, Luminex).
 Results. In the group of patients with periodontitis, there was an increase in the oral fluid levels of IL-1RA by 3.14 times (p = 0.01), IL-1α - by 2.3 (p = 0.02) in comparison with the control group. The integral characteristic of the clinical value of the parameters (AUC) is quite high for both indicators: IL-1RA ― 0.91 and IL-1α ― 0.94. The content of IL-1β and IL-18 did not change significantly.
 Conclusions. The study found an increase in the concentration of salivary cytokines of the IL-1 family in CP. Clinical and diagnostic characteristics of such tests as the content of IL-1α and IL-1RA in the oral fluid make it possible to consider them as biomarkers of mild chronic periodontitis.