Association between interleukin-6, C-Reactive protein and periodontal inflamed surface area : a cross- Sectional investigation

Abstract

Background and Objective: Periodontitis is a complex disease and is proven to be a risk factor for various systemic diseases by causing an inflammatory burden. CRP is an extremely sensitive marker for inflammation and its levels have been shown to be associated with periodontal inflammation. IL-6 has been shown to affect the production of CRP. To associate periodontal inflammation to any systemic disease it is necessary to quantify the amount of inflamed periodontal tissues. A new measure Periodontal Inflamed Surface Area (PISA) has been developed for the same. In the light of the above mentioned facts this study is designed to assess serum and GCF levels of CRP and IL-6 and correlate these with PISA in patients affected by chronic periodontitis. Materials and Methods: A total of 45 systemically healthy patients with chronic periodontitis participated in the study. Periodontal parameters, i.e BI, PI, CI, mean CAL and PISA (using spreadsheet by Huojel et al,2000) were recorded for all patients. GCF and serum samples were harvested from all subjects and samples were stored and analyzed for CRP and IL-6 using ELISA kits. Results: The PI, BI, CI and mean CAL had a positive correlation with PISA. BI and mean CAL had a significantly positive correlation with PISA (p<0.05). PISA also had a positive correlation with GCF levels of CRP (r=0.098, p=0.57), serum CRP levels (r=0.14, p=0.42), GCF IL-6 (r=0.89, p=0.61) and a significantly positive correlation was seen between PISA and serum levels of IL-6 (r=0.41, p=0.014). Also, there was a positive correlation between GCF and serum levels of CRP and IL-6. The serum levels of CRP and IL-6 had a significantly positive correlation (r=0.39, p=0.02). Conclusion: Higher PISA values were associated with higher serum levels of the inflammatory markers., thus proving that PISA could probably be used to correlate the local inflammatory burden with the systemic inflammatory burden.