Objective and design: The aim of this study was to determine vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mRNA expression levels in gingival tissues of gingivitis and periodontitis patients with diabetes mellitus and those without. The hypothesis tested is that expression of VEGF, considered the effective cytokine in the relationship between diabetes and periodontal disease, is differentially affected in gingivitis and periodontitis patients with or without diabetes mellitus compared to healthy controls.
Methods: Forty-five subjects were evaluated in five groups; individuals with gingivitis (group 1; n = 10), individuals with periodontitis (group 2; n = 10), individuals with gingivitis + type II diabetes (group 3; n = 10), individuals with periodontitis + type II diabetes (group 4; n = 10), and individuals without periodontal and systemic disease (group 5; n = 5). VEGF mRNA levels in gingival tissues were measured by quantitative real-time PCR using Lightcycler.
Results: Expression of VEGF mRNA was detected in all groups. There was no significant difference in expression levels of VEGF mRNA between groups (P > 0.05).
Conclusions: VEGF expression is probably related to both maintenance of periodontal health and periodontal tissue destruction. It can be concluded that systemic condition in type II diabetes mellitus under good metabolic control does not seem to have additional effects on gingival tissue VEGF mRNA levels in gingivitis and periodontitis patients.