Correlation between salivary IL-1β levels and periodontal clinical status

ObjectiveTo assess the concentration of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β in saliva of periodontally diseased and healthy patients and their relationship with the periodontal status.DesignUnstimulated 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-1β were measured in saliva samples with a high sensitivity enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).ResultsAlthough no significant difference (P = 0.624) was found for salivary IL-1β 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-1β levels and clinical measurements.ConclusionThe 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-1β concentration may be one of the host-response components associated to the clinical manifestations of periodontal disease.