The Potential Impact of Salivary IL-1 on the Diagnosis of Periodontal Disease: A Pilot Study

The aim of this study was to identify inflammatory cytokines as salivary biomarkers for periodontal disease. The subjects were 33 Korean adults aged 23 to 71 years. Using a multiplexed bead immunoassay called Luminex, the levels of inflammatory cytokines related to periodontal disease were evaluated. Oral examination for periodontal disease and gingival bleeding was conducted. With these two independent variables, differences in inflammatory cytokines were analyzed by an independent t-test and age-adjusted ANCOVA. Among the subjects, 21 had periodontal disease and 12 were healthy subjects. The gingival bleeding status was classified into low and high levels. Among 13 inflammatory cytokines in saliva, IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-4, IL-8, CCL2/MCP-1, CCL3/MIP-1α, and TNF-α were found to be significant biomarkers within the standard curve. The quantity of IL-1β was increased in subjects with high levels of gingival bleeding. IL-1α levels were increased in subjects with periodontal disease. After adjusting for age, the significant biomarkers for gingival bleeding and periodontal disease were IL-1β and IL-1α, respectively. Using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, IL-1β was confirmed as a significant biomarker. The sensitivity and specificity of IL-1β for predicting periodontitis were 88.24% and 62.5%, respectively. Therefore, IL-1 was found to be a significant biomarker for periodontal disease, and it could be used in the diagnosis of periodontal disease using saliva.