Non-Surgical Periodontal Therapy Lowers Serum Inflammatory Markers: A Pilot Study
Syed Akhtar Hussain Bokhari, BDS, MCPS,1 Ayyaz Ali Khan, BDS, MSc, PhD,2 Dimitris N. Tatakis, DDS, PhD,3 Mohammad Azhar, MBBS, MRCP,4 Mohammad Hanif, PhD,5 and Mateen Izhar, MBBS, PhD6
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR:. Dr. Syed Akhtar Hussain Bokhari,. ADDRESS: 22- Rewaz Garden, Lahore, Pakistan 54000. E-mail: pdphr@yahoo.com.
Background: Evidence suggests an association between periodontal disease and coronary heart dise ase (CHD). C-reactive protein (CRP), fibrinogen and white blood cell counts (WBC) are markers of inflammation and their systemic levels have been associated with CHD risk. This pilot study investigated the effect of non-surgical periodontal therapy on systemic levels of CRP, fibrinogen and WBC in CHD and non-CHD subjects.
Methods: Twenty seven angiographically defined CHD patients and 18 non-CHD (NCHD) subjects aged ≥40 years were recruited for the study. Periodontal disease was measured through clinical parameters of bleeding on probing (BOP) and probing depth (PD). All subjects received non-surgical periodontal therapy that included oral hygiene instructions, subgingival scaling and root planing. Systemic levels of inflammatory markers (CRP, fibrinogen and WBC) were measured prior to and one month after periodontal therapy.
Results: Seventeen CHD and eleven NCHD subjects completed the study. Both CHD and NCHD subjects experienced significant reductions in BOP (59% and 34%, respectively; P <0.05) and PD (41% and 35%, respectively; P <0.05) with insignificant intergroup differences (P >0.05). In both CHD and NCHD subjects CRP, fibrinogen and WBC were significantly reduced (21%-40%) following periodontal therapy (P <0.05).
Conclusion: Within the limitations of this pilot study, periodontal treatment resulted in significant decreases in BOP and PD, and lowered serum inflammatory markers in both CHD and NCHD patients. This may result in a decreased CHD risk for the treated patients. These findings will allow pursuit of a large-scale randomized intervention trial in this population.
from Journal of Perio
http://www.joponline.org/doi/abs/10.1902/jop.2009.090001