Correlation between salivary developmental endothelial locus-1, interleukin 17 expression level and severity of periodontal disease in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the correlation of the salivary expression levels of developmental endothelial locus-1 (Del-1) and interleukin 17 (IL-17) with the severity of periodontal disease in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

METHODS

Fifty-seven patients with T2DM and fifty-seven patients with T2DM complicated with chronic periodontitis (CP) admitted to our hospital from March 2020 to March 2021 were enrolled as the research objects and assigned to the T2DM group and T2DM+CP group respectively. Additionally, 57 healthy controls from the hospital physical examination center during the same period were included as the healthy controls. General information of all the enrolled participants was collected to measure the levels of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), salivary inflammatory factors, and salivary Del-1 and IL-17, as well as homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR).

RESULTS

HbA1c in the T2DM group and T2DM+CP group was significantly higher than that in the healthy control group. Gingival index (GI), plaque index (PI), and probing depth (PD) were significantly higher in case groups than those in the health group. Compared with the healthy control group, salivary IL-17 expression level increased remarkably in the T2DM+CP group and T2DM group, with a higher level observed in the T2DM+CP group (<0.05). The T2DM+CP group presented significantly higher levels of salivary tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) than the other two groups (<0.05). Compared with the healthy control group, HOMA-IR and salivary Del-1 declined evidently in the T2DM+CP group and T2DM group, and the lowest values were observed in the T2DM+CP group (<0.05). Salivary Del-1 and HbA1c were independent risk factors for CP in T2DM patients (<0.05).

CONCLUSION

Salivary Del-1 was downregulated and IL-17 was up-regulated in T2DM patients complicated with CP, indicating their correlation with the occurrence of CP in T2DM patients.