Abstract
Titanium is the mean biocompatible metal found in dental titanium alloys (Ti-6Al-4V). The safety of certain dental biomaterial amalgams has been questioned in patients. The levels of several systemic cytokines (interleukin (IL)-1 beta, IL-4: pg/mL) and chemokines (monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), soluble fractalkine (CX3CL1: pg/mL) were determined using ELISA and compared between these study groups. The study included 30 controls without dental materials (cont), 57 patients with long-term titanium dental implants plus amalgams (A + I group) as well as 55 patients with long-term dental amalgam alone (A group). All patients (except controls) have had dental titanium implants (Ti-6Al-4V) and/or amalgams for at least 10 years (average: 15 years). We evaluated whether systemic levels of cytokines/chemokines, kyn/L-trp ratio and aromatic amino acid levels (HPLC: mM/L, Phe, L-Trp, His, Treo) could be altered in patients with long-term dental titanium and/or amalgams. These systemic markers were evaluated in 142 patients. The A + I group had higher L-Kynurenine/L-Tryptophan ratios than patients with long-term dental amalgam fillings alone (A). In addition, levels of IL-1 Beta cytokine, CX3CL1 and MCP-1 chemokines were higher in the A + I group than in the A group (A). The increased L-kyn/L-trp ratio and MCP-1 and fractalkine receptor (CX3CR1) elevations could suggest enhanced chemotactic responses by these chemokines in the A + I group.
Highlights
The constituents of dental amalgams are mercury (Hg++: 50% by weight of the alloy powder), silver (Ag: 41% by weight), and tin (Sn), with copper (Cu++) and zinc (Zn++) as minority oligoelements (5–8%) [1,2,3]
We have studied whether systemic amino acid levels (Trp, Treo, Phe, His) might be altered in patients with long-term titanium dental implants and amalgams (A + I) as compared to those with long-term dental amalgam fillings alone or controls without dental biomaterials
L-Trp levels did not differ between patients with long-term amalgams alone and healthy controls (p > 0.05; n.s)
Summary
The constituents of dental amalgams are mercury (Hg++: 50% by weight of the alloy powder), silver (Ag: 41% by weight), and tin (Sn), with copper (Cu++) and zinc (Zn++) as minority oligoelements (5–8%) [1,2,3]. These heavy metal/oligoelements are detected by Inductive Coupled Spectrometry (ICP-MS) in biological samples (urine, plasma or hair) [4] and amino acids can be detected by HPLC (High Chromatography Liquid) [5]. TiO2 toxicity was reported in human astrocytes in vitro [17]
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