A comparative and observational assessment of gingival condition and il-1β level in vitiligo and nonvitiligo patients

Abstract

Introduction: Vitiligo is an autoimmune skin disorder that causes loss of skin pigment. Loss of skin pigment in oral mucosa may also become prominent and tend to be more noticeable in people with darker skin. There is much less information concerning this condition in gingiva. Therefore, an initial attempt has been made to compare clinical gingival status and biochemical assessment in vitiligo and nonvitiligo patients. Materials and Methods: This observational pilot study includes 45 patients of age group 20–40 years were divided as nonvitiligo pigmented gingivitis as observational 1 group, nonvitiligo nonpigmented gingivitis as control group, and vitiligo with gingivitis as observational 2 group. The clinical parameters assessed were plaque index, gingival index (GI), gingival bleeding index (GBI), dummett oral pigmentation index, and biochemical parameter such as gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) levels. Results: On intergroup examination using unpaired t -test and statistical analysis, vitiligo group showed highly significant results in GI (P < 0.001) and GBI (P < 0.001) than nonvitiligo group. Furthermore, the GCF IL-1β levels were found to be lesser (34.16 ng/ml) in vitiligo group as compared to nonvitiligo groups. Conclusion: At similar plaque level, higher gingival inflammation and bleeding were found in vitiligo patients. The loss of pigmentation of gingiva was evident in vitiligo patients. The possible defensive role of melanin is evident clinically.