Comparison of salivary Visfatin in patients with periodontitis and peri-implantitis in an Iranian population

Background. Visfatin (pre-B-cell colony-enhancing factor) is a salivary biomarker secreted from a variety of cells and is thought to have some proinflammatory and immune-modulating effects. This study compared salivary concentrations of visfatin in patients with chronic periodontitis and periimplantitis and healthy individuals.

Methods. In this cross-sectional and descriptive trial, patients were selected on the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria. The whole saliva samples were collected; then according to the measured clinical parameters the patients were categorized to peri-, chronic periodontitis and periodontally healthy individuals. The concentrations of visfatin were evaluated using a standard ELISA kit. The salivary concentrations of visfatin were statistically analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis test. A probability value of less than 0.05 was considered significant.

Results. A total of 40 participants (21 females and 19 males) were enrolled in this study. The mean salivary visfatin concentrations in the periodontally healthy individuals, periimplantitis patients and chronic periodontitis patients were 23.97 ng/mL, 12.83 ng/mL and 11.95 ng/mL, respectively. However; visfatin levels were higher in healthy individuals compared to other groups No significant differences were found in salivary visfatin concentrations between the three groups.

Conclusion. Under the limitations of this study, no significant relationships were found regarding salivary concentrations of visfatin among periimplantitis and chronic periodontitis patients as compared to healthy individuals; however, more studies are required in this regard.