Association of elevated IL-6 with poor glycemic control in periodontitis patients

Abstract

Background: Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a proinflammatory cytokine expressed in numerous chronic inflammatory diseases whose ability to alter the pathophysiology and progression of periodontitis is well documented. Further its role in diabetes mellitus by creating an insulin resistance responsible for poor glycemic control is also being evaluated. The aim was to compare the levels of IL-6 in gingival crevicular fluid in periodontitis patients with and without diabetes and to analyze these levels in patients with poor glycemic control (HBA1c), in order to assess its role in the progression of periodontal destruction. Methods: 60 chronic periodontitis patients confirmed with CPITN index of age group 30-70 years were enrolled for the study. GCF samples from 30 patients with diabetes confirmed using HBA1c reports and 30 without diabetes using Cimasoni method were collected and stored at -70degreescelsiusand subjected to ELISA for IL-6 using krishgen human IL-6 ELISA kit as per manufacturer's instruction. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used using SPSS software. Results: While the diabetic group readings ranged from 4.4 Pg/µl to 7.0 Pg/µl with a mean of 5.8pg/µl, the non- diabetic group ranged from 1.5 Pg/µl to 4.8 Pg/µl with a mean value of3.24 pg/µl. There was a prominent increase in the IL-6 levels in diabetic when compared to non- diabetic which was statistically significant with p value < 0.001. Further, among the diabetic groups, patients with poor HBA1c with reading more than 7.7% showed a significant increase in IL-6 levels when compared to below 6.8%. Conclusions: The IL-6 levels in GCF were increased in chronic periodontitis patients with diabetes and more so in patients with poor glycemic control when compared to non-diabetic group. Therefore, periodontitis along with diabetes can play a major role in the inflammatory response within the periodontium.