Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Chronic periodontitis is the most common form of periodontal disease. Chang- es in biomarkers seem to be associated with the disease progression. Procalcitonin (PCT) is one of these biomarkers that are altered during infection. This study was established to investigate the relationship between periodontitis as an infectious disease and salivary PCT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This case-control study was performed on 30 patients with gen- eralized chronic periodontitis and 30 health individuals as control group who were referred to Dental School, Jundishapur University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran at Feb to Apr 2014. The saliva samples were collected and analyzed by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Data analysis was performed using t test with the SPSS (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) version 13. RESULTS: In both groups, age and sex distribution values were not significantly differ- ent. The concentrations of salivary PCT in controls and patients ranged from 0.081 pg/ mL to 0.109 pg/mL and from 0.078 pg/mL to 0.114 pg/mL, respectively. The statistically significant differences between the two groups were not observed (P=0.17). CONCLUSION: It seems that salivary PCT concentration is not affected by disease progres- sion. Therefore, PCT is not a valuable marker for the existence of periodontal disease.