Evaluation of salivary Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha in patients with hypothyroidism and periodontitis: A Case- Control Study

Abstract

Introduction: The immune system has served as a bridge among periodontitis and the endocrine system, particularly in the case of thyroid disorders. After non-surgical periodontal therapy for hypothyroid patients, serum thyroid stimulating hormone levels fall within the normal limits, which reduces the inflammatory markers linked to both periodontal and hypothyroid diseases. The pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), released by macrophages, plays a significant role in bone loss caused by periodontitis. TNF-α will increase the production of collagenases, prostaglandin E2, chemokines and cytokines, cell adhesion molecules, and factors that are related to bone resorption. The aim of our study is to evaluate the salivary level of TNF-α in hypothyroidism patients with periodontitis in comparison to healthy controls.
 Material and subject: Saliva were collected from 90 subjects with age ranged between (22-65) years, 50 of them hypothyroid patients (25 patients with hypothyroidism and healthy periodontium, 25 patients with hypothyroidism and periodontitis) and 25 patients with periodontitis and systemically healthy compare with 15 subject as control (systemically healthy with healthy periodontium). Detection of TNF-α in saliva was done by using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay.
 
 Result: The current results revealed that salivary TNF-α levels are significantly high (p<0.001) in diseases group (periodontitis group (132.8 ng/L), hypothyroid patients groups without periodontitis (128.4 ng/L) and with periodontitis (117.0 ng/L) as compared to control group (73.4 ng/L), while there are no significant difference between diseases group.
 Conclusion: Salivary TNF-α level increased significantly in all diseased groups (periodontitis group, hypothyroidism groups with and without periodontitis) in comparison to healthy subject.