ABSTRACT
Background and Objective: Menopause is a normal developmental stage in a woman’s life marking the permanent cessation of menstruation. Calcium is predominant in intracellular signalling and its intracellular increase can affect the cell’s proliferation, phagocytosis and cytokine secretion. IL?8 expression in various cells such as neutrophils and osteoblasts was reported to involve a calcium signalling pathway. Well?known functions of IL?8 includes help in angiogenesis, role in tumour progression, tissue remodelling, etc., Hence, the aim of this study was to establish the relationship between calcium?dependent IL?8 and periodontal disease in postmenopausal females. Method: The study population included 52 postmenopausal women aged 45–57 years. The patients were divided into two groups in which group I included postmenopausal women without periodontitis and group II with periodontitis. Unstimulated salivary samples were collected from all the participants to evaluate IL?8 and calcium levels. Results: There was a statistically significant difference in salivary IL?8 levels between the two groups (P < 0.001), but there was no statistical difference in salivary calcium levels between the two groups (P = 0.730). A weak negative correlation between salivary IL?8 and calcium was found in group I, while a weak positive correlation was found between the same in group II. Conclusion: Analysis of salivary IL?8 from the present study was in accordance with several previous studies. It can be concluded that saliva can also be used as a reliable oral diagnostic fluid for IL?8 and calcium detection in periodontitis.