Effect of Nonsurgical Periodontal Treatment on Salivary and Plasma Superoxide Dismutase Levels of Patients Suffering from Periodontitis

Tanja Veljovic; Milanko Djuric; Jelena Mirnic; Ivana Gusic; Aleksandra Maletin; Stojan Ivic; Marija Stojilkovic; Snezana Brkic

doi:10.3390/jcm12206688

Effect of Nonsurgical Periodontal Treatment on Salivary and Plasma Superoxide Dismutase Levels of Patients Suffering from Periodontitis

J Clin Med. 2023 Oct 23;12(20):6688. doi: 10.3390/jcm12206688.

Authors

Tanja Veljovic¹, Milanko Djuric^{1

2}, Jelena Mirnic¹, Ivana Gusic^{1

2}, Aleksandra Maletin¹, Stojan Ivic^{1

2}, Marija Stojilkovic¹, Snezana Brkic^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Dental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia.
² Dentistry Clinic of Vojvodina, Department of Dental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia.
³ Clinic for Infectious Diseases, Clinical Centre of Vojvodina, Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia.

Abstract

Antioxidant capacity is frequently measured by evaluating superoxide dismutase (SOD) concentration in body fluids. The aim of this study was to compare SOD concentrations in the saliva and plasma of patients with periodontitis to those measured in a group of patients with healthy periodontium, as well as to evaluate the influence of nonsurgical periodontal therapy on salivary and plasma SOD in periodontitis patients. For this purpose, 40 systemically healthy patients aged 30-70 years who had at least 20 teeth were recruited, 20 of whom had periodontitis, and 20 served as healthy periodontitis-free controls. In all participants, periodontal status was assessed via the plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), papilla bleeding index (PIB), probing depth (PD), and clinical attachment level (CAL), and the SOD concentration in both saliva and plasma was determined by conducting a commercial immunoenzymatic ELISA test. In periodontitis patients, periodontal indices and saliva and blood samples were taken at the beginning of the study, as well as 3 months after periodontal therapy, while in the control group, these data were gathered at the beginning of the study only. SOD values in the saliva of patients with periodontitis (0.244 U/µL) were statistically significantly higher compared with patients with healthy periodontium (0.017 U/µL). Moreover, periodontal therapy led to a statistically significant decrease in this marker in the saliva of patients with periodontitis (p = 0.023), which was comparable with that measured in the control group. On the other hand, no statistically significant differences were noted in plasma SOD values either between the two groups or at follow-up compared with baseline in the group with periodontitis. These findings suggest that the elevated salivary SOD in patients with periodontal disease may represent a mechanism of tissue protection against oxidative stress that occurs in response to periodontal disease.

Keywords: oxidative stress; periodontal disease; plasma; superoxide dismutase; treatment.

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.