Background: This cross-sectional study was planned to investigate whether patients with chronic periodontitis exhibit different salivary or plasma concentrations of Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2 and TLR4 compared to subjects who are clinically healthy.
Methods: Whole saliva and plasma samples were obtained and full-mouth clinical periodontal measurements were recorded from 22 otherwise healthy patients with chronic periodontitis and 21 systemically and periodontally healthy control subjects. Salivary and plasma TLR2 and TLR4 levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunoassays. Data were tested statistically using Mann-Whitney U test.
Results: The healthy group exhibited significantly lower values in all clinical measurements (P <0.001). The salivary TLR2 levels were similar in the two study groups (P >0.05). The patients with chronic periodontitis exhibited significantly higher salivary TLR4 (P <0.01) and plasma TLR2 and TLR4 levels (P <0.05).
Conclusion: The present findings support a hypothesis that inflammation increases expression of TLRs which leads to an increased detection of TLRs in saliva and plasma, which could be useful as a diagnostic test for periodontal diseases.