Comparative estimation of sulfiredoxin levels between chronic periodontitis and healthy patients - A case-control study

Background: Growing evidence suggests that oxidative stress forms a key component in the etiopathogenesis of periodontitis. Studies have shown potential antioxidants responsible for combating the pro-oxidants which stress the periodontium. But, peroxiredoxin-sulfiredoxin system is the least explored in periodontal disease.

Methods: A case-control study was conducted on 30 participants who fulfilled the inclusion criteria from the Department of Periodontics, Saveetha Dental College and Hospital, Chennai, India. The patients were divided into two groups: 1) Group A- healthy controls (n = 18), 2) Group B- patients with generalized chronic periodontitis (n = 17). Following clinical examination, gingival tissue samples were procured from both the groups and subjected to protein quantification by Lowry method. The samples with adequate protein concentration (n = 30) from the two groups were further analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for estimation of sulfiredoxin levels.

Results: Sulfiredoxin levels were significantly higher in the gingival tissues of chronic periodontitis patients (171.20 ± 16.97 ng/mL) than in healthy controls (131.20 ± 22.87) with P < 0.001. Also, the levels of sulfiredoxin in gingival tissue of periodontitis patients positively correlated with site-specific probing depth (r = 0.67; P = 0.007) and clinical attachment level (r = 0.55; P = 0.035).

Conclusions: The present study was a novel attempt to estimate the levels of sulfiredoxin which was significantly elevated in the diseased sites of patients with chronic periodontitis. Future studies are required to probe the role of sulfiredoxin in the etiopathogenesis of periodontal disease.