ABSTRACT
Several cytokines, including IL-6 have been implicated in the pathogenesis of periodontal disease. It is established that monocytes from periodontitis subjects show an increased production of IL-6 as compared to healthy subjects. However, little is known about the effect of periodontal treatment on IL-6 production by monocytes in subsets of periodontitis patients. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of surgical periodontal treatment on IL-6 production of peripheral blood monocytes [PBM] in aggressive periodontitis patients [AP] and chronic periodontitis patients [CP] before and after stimulation by E.coli LPS. Fifteen AP patients, 15 CP patients and 15 periodontally healthy subjects [PH] took part in the study. PBM IL-6 production was measured, using ELISA, before and after stimulation of cultured PBM cells by 0.1 jig/mi LPS of Emit. Following full-mouth non-surgical and surgical periodontal treatment of the AP and CP groups, the same measurements were repeated for these two groups. LPS-stimulated lL-6 production was significantly greater than non- stimulated IL-6 for all 3 groups. Before periodontal treatment, LPS-stimulated TL-6 production of the AP group was significantly greater than the other 2 groups. Periodontal treatment did not result in a significant decrease in unstimulated or LPS-stimulated IL-6 production by PBM cells in AP and CP patients. No correlation was detected between TL6 levels and baseline clinical parameters or changes in clinical parameters. PBM cells in AP patients might be hyper-responsive in terms of IL-6 production. This hyper-responsiveness does not seem to return to that of healthy subjects even after a successful periodontal treatment. Moreover, the regulation of host inflammatory mechanisms upon LPS challenge might be different between AP and CP patients