Periodontal Therapy on Leukocytes Count and TGF-β Levels

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the effects of nonsurgical periodontal therapy on white blood cell (WBC) count and levels of transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) in serum from subjects with severe periodontitis.Methods: Serum from 28 subjects (mean age: 34.36±6.24; 32% men) with periodontitis (14 patients diagnosed with chronic periodontitis [CP]; 8 generalized aggressive periodontitis [GAgP] patients; 6 localized aggressive periodontitis [LAgP] patients) and 27 healthy controls (mean age: 33.18±6.42; 33% men) were collected prior to periodontal therapy. Blood samples were obtained from 23 subjects (12 CP patients, 5 GAgP patients and 6 LAgP patients) who completed therapy (9-12 months). All patients were nonsmokers, were not under medication, and had neither history nor detectable symptoms of systemic diseases. A well-controlled periodontal treatment protocol was established in three stages: mechanical periodontal therapy (scaling and root planning) for ≤14 days, reinstrumentation of sites (3-6 months), and supportive periodontal therapy (SPT) for 6 months. Oral and systemic parameters such as the number of WBCs and TGF-β levels, a pleiotropic cytokine, accessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were included.Results: After therapy, all clinical periodontal parameters decreased (p\u3c0.0001). When all forms of periodontitis (CP, GAgP, LAgP) were grouped together, there were no statistical diferences on WBC count between experimental and control groups before or after therapy. However, after therapy, the mean value of lymphocytes in LAgP patients was statistically higher than that of patients with CP (p\u3c0.0357). Additionally, TGF-β levels in LAgP patients increased compared to controls (p\u3c0.05). For the other groups, TGF-β serum levels were statistically unchanged after periodontal treatment.Conclusions: In systemically healthy subjects with periodontitis, periodontal therapy was associated with increased levels of circulating TGF-β in LAgP patients. Moreover, WBC count was not modified for all forms of periodontitis, which confirmed that periodontitis causes a low-grade inflammatory state in its association with systemic diseases