Gingival crevicular fluid levels of prolactin hormone in periodontitis patients before and after treatment and in healthy controls.

OBJECTIVE: Prolactin (PRL) acts as a hormone and as a cytokine and is linked to the pathogenesis of a variety of chronic inflammatory diseases. This study aimed to investigate a potential role for prolactin in the pathogenesis of periodontitis by assessing its local gingival crevicular levels before and after periodontal treatment, compared to controls. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 40 participants were included and divided into 2 groups. Group 1; included 20 patients suffering from moderate to severe periodontitis and group 2; included 20 healthy controls. GCF samples were collected from both groups after initial clinical examination and 3 months after scaling and root planning for the periodontitis group only. Levels of prolactin were tested by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: At baseline, a statistically significant elevated PRL levels were shown in the periodontitis group compared to controls (p less than 0.001), with a non significant difference between males and females (p greater than 0.05) . Periodontal debridement caused a significant reduction in PRL levels but these levels remained significantly higher compared to controls levels. A 100% diagnostic accuracy was shown for PRL levels in the tested groups. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest a role for PRL in the pathogenesis of periodontitis, further, it could represent a reliable biomarker for disease activity and prognosis.

Expression of Leptin and Visfatin in Gingival Tissues of Chronic Periodontitis With and Without Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Study Using Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay and Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to investigate the protein and gene expression of leptin and visfatin in gingival tissue from patients with chronic periodontitis (CP), patients with CP and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and healthy individuals. METHODS: The study includes 50 individuals: 10 healthy individuals, 20 patients with CP, and 20 patients with CP and T2DM. Plaque index, gingival index, probing depth, and clinical attachment loss were measured, and gingival biopsies were obtained. Leptin and visfatin protein expression in gingival tissues was determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and messenger RNA (mRNA) expression was measured via real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: The highest leptin mRNA and protein expression was observed in the control group and was significantly (P ≤0.05) different from the CP and CP+T2DM groups. Gingival tissues from patients with CP and T2DM had a significant increase in visfatin and a decrease in leptin gene and protein expression (P <0.05) compared with both controls and patients with CP. CONCLUSION: Expression of leptin and visfatin in the gingival tissues suggests a possible role for these adipokines in the pathogenesis of CP and T2DM.