Assessment of the Level of Interleukin-12 in Gingival Crevicular Fluid of a Group of Patients with Aggressive Periodontitis and a Group of Healthy Subjects

Background: Aggressive periodontitis is a type of periodontal disease that is relatively prevalent among Sudanese population. The disease generally affects younger individuals and might lead to tooth loss if undetected early leading to costly and long periodontal treatment. Until today, no reliable detection tool is present so, diagnosis is confirmed only after periodontal tissue loss has already occurred. Cytokines play a major role in the initiation and also progression of this disease. Interleukin 12 has both pro-inflammatory and immune-regulatory effects and it has been implicated in the pathogenesis of other inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. However, it was not studied extensively in Sudanese population. Therefore, the aim of this study was to measure and compare the level of lnterleukin 12 in the gingival crevicular fluid of patients with aggressive periodontitis, healthy subjects and to correlate its level with periodontal parameters to hopefully help in the development of future detection tools. Methods: In this study, 30 patients with aggressive periodontitis and 30 healthy subjects were recruited. The periodontal parameters included; bleeding on probing (BOP), periodontal pocket depth (PPD), clinical attachment level (CAL). Gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) levels of interleukin 12 were measured. Results: A total of 60 participants were enrolled in this study with female predominance of 83% and males comprising 17%. The results of this study showed slight elevation in the level of interleukin-12 in the GCF in AgP group with a mean value of (60.7) and a mean value of (52.7) in the healthy subjects group however the difference was not statistically significant, P value=(0.120).Also, no statistically significant correlation was found between the level of this interleukin and periodontal parameters with slight elevation in AgP group. The P value for bleeding on probing, pocket depth and clinical attachment loss=(0.369), (0.985), (0.797) respectively. Conclusion: The slight increase in the level of interleukin 12 in GCF of aggressive periodontitis patient and slight elevation in sites with attachment loss suggests a possible role of this cytokine in the pathogenesis of aggressive periodontitis. More studies are required to determine the exact role of this cytokine in aggressive periodontitis.