Salivary Interferon Gamma and Interleukin-4 Levels in patients suffering from Oral Lichen Planus

Objective: Oral lichen planus [OLP] is a chronic inflammatory disease. Immunological factor may act as etiological factor. The cellular immune cells such as T cells are important in pathogenesis. Interferon gamma [IFN-Gamma] and interleukin 4 [IL-4] are secreted by T-helper 1 [Th1] and Th2, respectively. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between salivary levels of IFN-Gamma and IL-4 with OLP

Materials and Methods: This case control study included sixty three Iranian OLP patients who were selected from the Department of Oral Medicine of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences from January to July 2013. An equal number of healthy volunteers were also selected as a control group. The OLP patients were then divided into two following sub-groups: reticular [n=30] and erythematous/ulcerative [n=33]. All patients had no systemic disease and received no medication. IFN-Gamma and IL-4 levels in whole unstimulated saliva [WUS] were measured using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA] test. Data analysis was done using t test, ANOVA, least significant difference [LSD] test, and the Kruskal-Wallis test

Results: Reticular OLP patients showed higher salivary IFN-Gamma [7.74 +/- 0.09 pg/ml] and IL-4 [3.876 +/- 0.05 pg/ml] levels compared with the control group, indicating that difference was significant. Salivary IFN-Gamma/IL-4 ratio significantly increased compared with control group [P=0.042]. Salivary IFN-Gamma and IL-4 levels between sub-groups [reticular and erythematous/ulcerative] were not significantly different [2.6 +/- 0.06 and 2.3 +/- 0.05, respectively, P<0.05]

Conclusion: Salivary IFN-Gamma and IL-4 levels were increased in OLP patients. An increase of salivary IFN-Gamma/IL-4 ratio in OLP patients showed that Th1 might have a dominant role in the OLP pathogenesis

Investigation of the association between Salivary Procalcitonin concentration and chronic periodontitis

Objective: Chronic periodontitis is the most common form of periodontal disease. Changes in biomarkers seem to be associated with the disease progression. Procalcitonin [PCT] is one of these biomarkers that are altered during infection. This study was established to investigate the relationship between periodontitis as an infectious disease and salivary PCT

Materials and Methods: This case-control study was performed on 30 patients with generalized chronic periodontitis and 30 health individuals as control group who were referred to Dental School, Jundishapur University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran at Feb to Apr 2014. The saliva samples were collected and analyzed by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA] method. Data analysis was performed using t test with the SPSS [SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA] version 13

Results: In both groups, age and sex distribution values were not significantly different. The concentrations of salivary PCT in controls and patients ranged from 0.081 pg/ mL to 0.109pg/mL and from 0.078pg/mL to 0.114pg/mL, respectively. The statistically significant differences between the two groups were not observed [P=0.17]

Conclusion: It seems that salivary PCT concentration is not affected by disease progression. Therefore, PCT is not a valuable marker for the existence of periodontal disease

A comparison of magnetostrictive and piezoelectric ultrasonic scaling devices: an in vitro study

PURPOSE: The effects of magnetostrictive and piezoelectric devices on tooth surfaces seem to differ with regard to the root surface roughness they produce. This study aimed to compare the results of scaling using magnetostrictive and piezoelectric devices on extracted teeth. METHODS: Forty-four human extracted teeth were assigned to four study groups (n=11). In two groups (C100 and C200), the teeth were scaled using a magnetostrictive device and two different lateral forces: 100 g and 200 g, respectively. In the other two groups (P100 and P200), the teeth were scaled with a piezoelectric device with 100 g and 200 g of lateral force, respectively. he teeth were scaled and the data on the duration of scaling and the amount of surface were collected and analyzed using the t-test. RESULTS: The mean time needed for instrumentation for the piezoelectric and magnetostrictive devices was 50:54 and 41:10, respectively, but their difference was not statistically significant (P=0.171). For root surface roughness, we only found a statistically significantly poorer result for the C200 group in comparison to the P200 group (P=0.033). CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that applying a piezoelectric scaler with 200 g of lateral force leaves smoother surfaces than a magnetostrictive device with the same lateral force.

Detection of IL-4, IL-6 and IL-12 serum levels in generalized aggressive periodontitis

Periodontitis is a multifactorial chronic inflammatory disease characterized by destruction of tooth-supporting tissues. Environmental and genetic factors as well as the immune system participate in this process. Recent studies have attempted to elucidate the role of cytokine networks involved in periodontal diseases. To assess and compare the levels of IL-4, IL-6 and IL-12 in serum samples of patients with generalized aggressive periodontitis [GagP] and control individuals. A total of 50 subjects were included in the study of which 25 patients had generalized aggressive periodontitis and 25 were healthy unrelated age and gender matched patients undergoing extraction and surgical crown lengthening [control group]. Local blood samples of patients were collected from surgical sites of pocket reduction and from healthy individuals before tooth extraction or crown lengthening from non inflamed sites. The levels of IL-4, IL-6 and IL-12 were determined by an ELISA assay using serum samples separated from the whole blood of both groups. The level of IL-4 increased significantly in control group in comparison with the test group [p=0.002]. The amount of IL-6 in GagP patients increased strongly compared with control group [p<0.0001]. There was no significant difference between the two groups concerning the level of IL-12. There is an association between generalized aggressive periodontitis and low level of IL-4 as an anti-inflammatory cytokine, and high level of IL-6 as a proinflammatory cytokine. No correlation between IL-12 and generalized aggressive peridontitis was found