Evaluation of GCF Local Chemical Mediators in Aggressive Periodontitis Patients

Periodontal diseases are inflammatory processes that affects supportive tissues around the tooth. Aggressive periodontitis is a rare but rapidly progressing form of periodontal disease. Local inflammatory mediators are associated with the destruction of tissues and the clinical symptoms. Objective: Determine if LINCOplex® technology can be used to quantitate proteins of the gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) to characterize inflammatory mediators such as cyto/chemokines present in the local environment. Methods: Initial baseline data was collected on a cohort (n=20) of African-American children diagnosed with local aggressive periodontal disease (AgP) between the ages of 3-22 years old, includeding probing depths, gingival marginal positioning, attachment levels, plaque index, bleeding on probing, and GCF from one healthy and one diseased site. LINCOplex® technology was used to detect and quantify 22 cyto/chemokines in the GCF, after which patterns of pro-inflammatory cytokine expression in the GCF from healthy and AgP participants as well as from healthy and diseased sites of AgP participants were compared. Results: Nine of the 22 chemical mediators tested in the GCF participants were analyzed. Here, within the diseased sites of AgP participants, elevated concentrations of all cytokines analyzed, except IL1α, was observed when compared to healthy sites from healthy participants. Interestingly, elevated levels of these pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL1α, were also observed in the healthy sites of AgP participants. Conclusions: GCF is a valid medium through which to test chemical mediators using LINCOplex® technology. High concentration of cyto/chemokines in the diseased sites of AgP participants correlates with their role in the destruction of periodontium. Importantly, elevated concentration in healthy sites of the same participants demonstrates a potential risk in the future for the development of periodontal disease in these sites. Supported by UFCD Summer Research Fellowship and NIH U24-DE-016509-01