Crevicular interleukin-1 beta in moderate and severe periodontitis patients and the effect of phase I periodontal treatment.

Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), a potent stimulator of bone resorption, has been implicated in the pathogenesis of periodontal destruction. However, the relationship between cytokines and periodontal disease has not been studied sufficiently to allow definitive conclusions. The aims of this study are to investigate crevicular IL-1 beta and the clinical status of patients with periodontitis and the effect of phase I periodontal therapy on levels of IL-1 beta. For this study, 130 gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) samples were harvested from non-inflamed (15) and diseased sites (115) in 11 patients with periodontitis. The gingival index (GI) and probing depth (PD) of each site was recorded initially and one month after treatment. The amount of IL-1 beta in the GCF was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using an antibody specific for this cytokine. Before treatment, IL-1 beta was found in 12 of 15 non-inflamed gingival crevices and in 112 of 115 diseased pockets. The amount of IL-1 beta varied from 4.03 to 511.12 pg/site. The average amount of IL-1 beta from diseased sites was 3-fold greater than that from non-inflamed sites. Both total amount of IL-1 beta and the GCF volume, but not IL-1 beta concentration, were found to be correlated, positively, with GI score and PD. After therapy, 63 sites from 7 patients were re-examined, and the amount of IL-1 beta in 49 of 63 sites was found to have declined. These data suggest that the amount of crevicular IL-1 beta is closely associated with periodontal status. This relationship may be valuable in monitoring periodontal disease activity.