Sclerostin and WNT-5a gingival protein levels in chronic periodontitis and health.

Abstract

Wnt signaling pathways regulate osteoblast differentiation and bone formation and are associated with inflammatory responses driven by innate and adaptive immunity via the NF-κB pathway. The aim of this study was to compare the levels of sclerostin (SOST), WNT-5a, and TNF-α between chronic periodontitis and periodontally healthy sites and determine their value as diagnostic markers of chronic periodontitis. In a cross-sectional assessment 25 chronic periodontitis cases and 25 periodontally healthy controls were selected upon clinical and radiographic periodontal evaluation. Gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) was collected cross-sectionally from diseased and healthy sites in periodontitis patients and from healthy sites in each control subject. In a subgroup analysis, ten patients with generalized moderate and severe chronic periodontitis and ten generalized periodontally healthy individuals were included. The protein levels of SOST, WNT-5a, and TNF-α in GCF were measured by sandwich ELISA. The Shapiro-Wilk test was utilized to assess the normality of the distribution and non-parametric comparisons were performed. The protein levels of SOST were significantly higher in the generalized moderate and severe chronic periodontitis subgroup when compared to the generalized healthy (P=0.002), while the WNT-5a and TNF-α GCF total amounts were similar (P>0.05). Diseased sites in the periodontitis patients exhibited significantly higher total protein levels of WNT-5a than in healthy sites (P=0.017), whereas no differences were detected for SOST and TNF-α (P>0.05). The total protein levels of SOST, WNT-5a, and TNF-α in GCF were similar in periodontitis and non-periodontitis patients (P>0.05). Sclerostin and WNT-5a gingival protein levels demonstrated a high diagnostic value for generalized moderate and severe chronic periodontitis, while a low accuracy was detected for localized chronic periodontitis.