| The primary goal of this study was to identify salivary biomarkers associate with periodontal disease activity. Ninety eight samples of whole saliva were collected from untreated subjects initially presenting to the dental school for treatment. Alveolar bone loss scores for each patient were derived from radiographic examination. IL-1-beta, TNF-alpha and IL-6 concentrations in saliva were determined by Luminex flow cytometric immunoassay, while osteonectin, osteocalcin, PGE2 and ICTP were measured by conventional ELISA. Radiographic bone loss, adjusted for the number of missing teeth, was modeled as a function of salivary biomarker levels, age, smoking history, diabetes and use of Bisphosphonate drugs. The results of a multivariate Poisson regression showed that age ( p<0.0001), current smoking status (p<0.0001) and salivary IL-1beta levels above the median (p<0.0001) were positively associated with increase bone loss score, while salivary osteonectin level above the median was associated with a decreased bone loss score ( p<0.01). Future longitudinal studies will determine if salivary biomarkers can predict periodontal bone loss. |
