Salivary and serum levels of neutrophil proteases in periodontitis and rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract Objective The aim was to profile serum and salivary levels of active‐matrix metalloproteinase (aMMP)‐8, tissue inhibitor MMP (TIMP)‐1, aMMP‐8/TIMP‐1 ratio, total MMP (tMMP)‐9, tMMP‐9/TIMP‐1 ratio, myeloperoxidase (MPO), and human neutrophil elastase (HNE) in periodontitis and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Materials and Methods Rheumatoid arthritis patients with periodontitis (RA + P, n = 26), periodontally healthy RA patients (RA, n = 23), systemically healthy periodontitis patients (P, n = 24), and controls (C, n = 24) were included. aMMP‐8 levels were determined by a time‐resolved immunofluorescence assay (IFMA), TIMP‐1, tMMP‐9, MPO, and HNE levels were measured by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent (ELISA) assays. Results Higher salivary aMMP‐8 ( p < 0.001), aMMP‐8/TIMP‐1 ratio ( p = 0.043), tMMP‐9 ( p = 0.011), tMMP‐9/TIMP‐1 ratio ( p = 0.022), MPO ( p = 0.026) and HNE ( p < 0.001) levels were detected in P relative to the controls. Salivary TIMP‐1 was increased in RA patients regardless of periodontal status (RA + P vs. P: p = 0.038; RA vs. C: p = 0.020). Serum neutrophil proteases were increased in RA groups (RA + P, RA) compared to systemically healthy groups (P, C) ( p < 0.05). Conclusions Serum levels of neutrophil proteases were increased in RA study groups; however rheumatologic status seemingly does not affect salivary levels of these proteins.