Author(s)

Silvana P. Barros, Sandra Al-Tarawneh, Sompop Bencharit, Zvi Loewy, Linda Gendreau, Steven Offenbacher

Department of Periodontology, School of Dentistry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA.
Department of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, Touro College of Pharmacy, New York, USA.
Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA.
Department of Prosthodontics, School of Dentistry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA.
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, Parsippany, USA.

We aimed to evaluate the microbial and inflammatory characteristics associated with Denture Stomatitis (DS) analyzing: l) Levels of salivary cytokines and cultivable C. albicans; 2) DNA-DNA checkerboard on biofilm associated with mucosal tissue-bearing denture surfaces, 3) Serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. Thirty-two subjects were enrolled in the study with control (n = 17) and DS types II and III (n = 15) subjects. Samples were collected from unstimulated whole saliva, serum and swabs from denture surfaces. Salivary levels of inflammatory mediators and CRP were measured by multiplex. Samples from denture and mucosal surfaces were analyzed by DNA-DNA checkerboard. Saliva from DS subjects showed increase in IL-8 (p = 0.04) and IL-1β (p = 0.04) with trend for increase in IL-1β, TNFα and IL-6 levels. C. albicans higher counts in DS saliva (p = 0.03) showed association with elevated levels of IL-8 (p = 0.03) and IL-1α (p = 0.01). CRP levels were not different among groups (p = 0.74). DNA-DNA checkerboard analyses indicated typical periodontal pathogens below the detection threshold of 104 organisms on both denture and inflamed mucosal surfaces. The data suggest that DS is associated with elevation of salivary IL1 and IL-8 together with increased C. albicans. There was no evidence of systemic inflammation as measured by serum C-reactive protein levels.

Cytokines; Serum C-Reactive Protein; Denture; C. albicans; Stomatitis; Salivary

Barros, S. , Al-Tarawneh, S. , Bencharit, S. , Loewy, Z. , Gendreau, L. and Offenbacher, S. (2012) Salivary cytokines and levels in denture stomatitis: An exploratory case-control study. Open Journal of Stomatology, 2, 326-333. doi: 10.4236/ojst.2012.24056.