Estimation of Salivary and Serum Lactate Dehydrogenase in Oral Submucous Fibrosis

AIM AND OBJECTIVES: The objective of the present study was to estimate the serum and salivary lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels in patients with oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) and to study the association between serum and salivary LDH levels and mouth opening, frequency of habit, and duration of habit in patients with OSMF. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Participants were divided into two groups: Group I – case group diagnosed with OSMF and Group II – the control group. Unstimulated whole saliva was collected from all the participants. The International Federation of Clinical Chemistry method was carried out with the help of LDH (P-L) kit (Crest Biosystems, Goa). Collection of blood sample was done under aseptic precautions and processed for LDH. The data were analyzed using SPSS software 2010 (version 19, IBM, Armonk, NY, USA). Descriptive statistics including mean, range, standard deviation, and percentage were used along with unpaired t-test and Pearson's correlation test. RESULTS: All the participants were male and were in the age range of 18–60 years, with a mean age of 28.63 ± 10.39 years. The mean salivary LDH levels in patients with OSMF were 1057.30 ± 640.12 μg/dl and in the control group were 668.25 ± 498.45 μg/dl. The mean serum LDH level in patients with OSMF was 408.35 ± 158.35 μg/dl as compared to the control group was 313.05 ± 82.69 μg/dl. The Pearson's correlation coefficient between serum LDH and frequency of habit, duration of habit, and mouth opening was found to be 0.55, 0.53, and 0.69, respectively. The Pearson's correlation coefficient between salivary LDH and frequency of habit, duration of habit, and mouth opening was found to be 0.33, 0.04, and 0.13, respectively. The Pearson's correlation coefficient between salivary LDH and serum LDH was found to be −0.18. CONCLUSIONS: There was a significant increase in the serum and salivary LDH in OSMF patients as compared to controls; the salivary LDH did not seem to correlate with frequency of the habit, duration of the habit, or mouth opening of OSMF patients. However, serum LDH was found to correlate directly with frequency of the habit and mouth opening in OSMF patients. Hence, based on the results of the present study, it can be hypothesized that serum LDH is a better biological marker than salivary LDH in the evaluation of OSMF.