ABSTRACT
Objective: To investigate RANKL and OPG serum concentrations and the RANKL/OPG ratio in patients diagnosed withchronic periodontitis and attending dental school clinics in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Methods : Patients seeking dentaltreatment at the Faculty of Dentistry Clinic, Umm Al Qura University were divided into periodontitis and control groupsbased on their clinical findings. Periodontitis was diagnosed in patients with a PD >4mm or CAL >3mm at more than 30%of the examined sites, and the radiographic evidence of alveolar bone loss was > 30% of teeth. RANKL and OPG serumconcentrations (pg/ml) and RANKL/OPG ratio were determined. Results: Forty-three patients, including 32 females and 11males with a mean age of 30 +/_ 8.48, were studied. Thirty patients were diagnosed with periodontitis, and 13 were in thecontrol group. The patients with periodontitis had significantly higher RANKL (31.8 +/_ 27.5 vs. 18.7 +/_ 14.2 pg/ml,p=0.04) and OPG concentrations (58.0 +/_ 23.2 vs. 45.3 +/_ 10.0 pg/ml, p=0.03) than the control patients. The patients withperiodontitis that smoked had significantly lower serum RANKL concentrations than those that did not smoke (37.8 +/_ 10.0vs. 14.8 +/_ 10.0, p=0.0057 pg/ml). The RANKL/OPG serum ratio was higher in non-smokers than in smokers (0.6 vs. 0.3,p=0.017). The patients with generalized advanced periodontitis had significantly higher serum RANKL concentrations thanthose with the localized disease (56.8 +/_ 42.0 vs. 22.0 +/_ 12.8 pg/ml, p=0.03). Serum RANKL/OPG ratio was increased inpatients with generalized disease (0.96 vs. 0.39, p=0.036). Serum RANKL/OPG ratio was also correlated with the amount ofCAL (r = 0.459, p=0.04). Conclusions: Serum RANKL concentrations were increased in patients with periodontitis, in nonsmokers, and in patients with the generalized advanced disease.