Serum cytokine levels and periodontal parameters in ankylosing spondylitis

Multiple studies support the role of periodontal disease in contributing to the chronic systemic inflammatory burden in a variety of diseases, including ankylosing spondylitis (AS), in the progression which the inflammatory process plays an important role. We assume that patients with AS are more likely to have periodontal disease than healthy individuals. The aim of this study was to determine the possible relationship between inflammatory periodontal diseases and AS by evaluating clinical periodontal parameters and serum cytokine levels.

Forty-eight adults with AS (35 women and 13 men; age range 18-56 years; mean age 34.27 years) and 48 age- and sex-matched systemically healthy control subjects participated in the study. The clinical periodontal parameters, venous blood and Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score were obtained, and serum C-reactive protein, tumour necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were evaluated.

There was statistically no significant difference in the frequency of periodontitis between AS patients and the control group. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in probing depth, clinical attachment level and plaque index, and the only significant clinical difference between groups was in levels of bleeding on probing (p < 0.001). Serum concentrations of IL-6, tumour necrosis factor-α and C-reactive protein in the AS group were significantly higher than those in the control group (p < 0.001). In the AS group, there was a correlation between serum IL-6 levels and clinical attachment level (p < 0.001).

The results of present study suggest that bleeding on probing was the only different periodontal parameter between the AS and the control group, and the periodontal status of patients with AS may be affected by IL-6 levels.