Salivary and serum interleukin-6 levels in proliferative verrucous leukoplakia

Cytokines and chemokines have been analysed in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma and potentially malignant disorders. We selected interleukin-6 (IL-6) because it is a multifunctional interleukin reported to be altered in potentially malignant oral disorders and in malignant lesions. To date, this has not been evaluated or tested in proliferative verrucous leukoplakia (PVL), however.

This study aimed to analyse the differences in serum and saliva IL-6 levels among patients with PVL, oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and healthy controls and to examine the relationship between salivary IL-6 levels and the extent of the verrucous area.

Using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, we determined the serum and saliva IL-6 levels in three groups: 20 patients with PVL, 20 with OSCC and 20 healthy controls.

There were significant (p < 0.01) differences in the serum and saliva IL-6 levels among the three groups and among the three grades of extent of the verrucous areas (p = 0.01). In the OSCC group, there was a significant difference in the saliva IL-6 levels between patients with and without lymph node metastasis at diagnosis (p = 0.02).

We found that patients with OSCC had the highest salivary and serum IL-6 levels, while PVL had lower values than OSCC, but higher than the controls, and these altered levels were associated with the extent of the verrucous areas.

Salivary and plasma IL-6 are altered in patients with PVL, with more extensive verrucous areas being associated to the highest IL-6 levels. This could be a significant tool for monitoring patients with PVL, their progression to more advances stages and their recurrences.