Mithradas Nimisha, Sudhakar Uma, Rajaram Vijayalakshmi, Ram Shankar, Ravindran Navina
Department of Periodontics, Thai Moogambigai Dental College and Hospital, Dr. M.G.R Educational and Research Institute, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Department of Periodontics, Meenakshi Ammal Dental College and Hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
J Indian Soc Periodontol. 2024 Sep-Oct;28(5):551-556. doi: 10.4103/jisp.jisp_38_24. Epub 2025 Feb 26.
The relationship between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and periodontitis has been interesting. Understanding this connection is crucial for comprehensive patient care and highlights the importance of monitoring and addressing oral health issues in an individual's post-COVID-19 recovery. This study compared and evaluated the serum Galectin-3 (Gal-3) levels and clinical parameters in healthy individuals with chronic periodontitis with no history of COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 patients with periodontitis.
Group I consists of 25 post-COVID-19 patients with Stage II Grade B periodontitis, 25 patients with Stage II Grade B periodontitis without any history of COVID-19 (Group II), and 25 healthy controls (Group III) were recruited for the study. Gal-3 levels in serum were assessed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. Clinical periodontal variables were measured and recorded, including clinical attachment level (CAL), plaque index (PI), and probing pocket depth (PPD). Data analyses were done using the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test and Tukey's honest significant difference tests.
Group I patients had a higher serum Gal-3 concentrations of 14.757 ng/ml compared to 11.127 ng/ml and 8.673 ng/ml in Group II and Group III, respectively, and the mean difference in Gal-3 levels was statistically significant with = 0.000. The mean PPD, CAL, and PI were significantly high in Groups I and II compared to Groups II and III with = 0.000.
The current study's findings demonstrated that periodontitis patients and individuals with post-COVID-19 and periodontitis had increased Gal-3 levels in the serum compared to healthy participants. This study highlights the relevance of treating periodontitis during the post-COVID-19/long-COVID era and the need to maintain oral hygiene by identifying possible biomarkers and understanding specific underlying processes.
2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）与牙周炎之间的关系一直备受关注。了解这种关联对于全面的患者护理至关重要，并凸显了在个体COVID-19康复后监测和解决口腔健康问题的重要性。本研究比较并评估了无COVID-19病史的慢性牙周炎健康个体以及COVID-19后牙周炎患者的血清半乳糖凝集素-3（Gal-3）水平和临床参数。
本研究招募了25例COVID-19后患有II期B级牙周炎的患者（I组）、25例无任何COVID-19病史的II期B级牙周炎患者（II组）和25名健康对照者（III组）。使用酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）试剂盒评估血清中的Gal-3水平。测量并记录临床牙周变量，包括临床附着水平（CAL）、菌斑指数（PI）和探诊袋深度（PPD）。使用单因素方差分析（ANOVA）检验和Tukey诚实显著性差异检验进行数据分析。
I组患者血清Gal-3浓度较高，为14.757 ng/ml，而II组和III组分别为11.127 ng/ml和8.673 ng/ml，Gal-3水平的平均差异具有统计学意义（P = 0.000）。与II组和III组相比，I组和II组的平均PPD、CAL和PI显著更高（P = 0.000）。
当前研究结果表明，与健康参与者相比，牙周炎患者以及COVID-19后牙周炎患者血清中的Gal-3水平升高。本研究强调了在COVID-19后/长期COVID时代治疗牙周炎的相关性，以及通过识别可能的生物标志物和了解特定潜在过程来保持口腔卫生的必要性。
