In a bid to better characterise the inflammatory consequences of periodontal inflammation, researchers at the New York University College of Dentistry have developed two new scores to describe cytokines level in saliva.
According to Dental Tribune, “the scores could help measure how well a patient responds to periodontal treatment, predict periodontal disease recurrence and detect ongoing inflammation related to systemic disease.”
Cognizant of the fact that cytokines play a crucial role in the pathophysiology of periodontal disease, which has been linked to systemic conditions such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease, and that cytokines are hard to measure deep in the the fluid in perdiontal pockets, the researchers “constructed two composite indexes of salivary cytokines and determined whether the severity of periodontal inflammation was correlated with these scores.”
“Periodontal inflammation is not just apparent upon examination, but is reflected in the patient’s saliva,” said senior author Dr Angela R. Kamer, associate professor in the Ashman Department of Periodontology and Implant Dentistry at the New York University College of Dentistry.
“Salivary cytokines are a window into the molecular make-up of the oral environment,” said lead author Dr Vera W.L. Tang, clinical assistant professor in the same department.
More research will need to be undertaken “to validate the cytokine scores in patients with various health conditions and different levels of periodontal disease or health, including healthy gingivae and early-stage periodontal disease.”
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