Increased salivary levels of 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine may be a marker for disease activity for periodontitis

Background: 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) is commonly used as a marker to evaluate oxidative DNA damage in disorders including chronic inflammatory diseases such as inflammatory periodontal pathologies. In the current study we hypothesized that the level of 8-OHdG in saliva increases by the periodontal destruction severity determined by clinical parameters as clinical attachment level (CAL). Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sum of 60 age gender balanced; chronic periodontitis (CP) (n = 20), chronic gingivitis (CG) (n = 20) and healthy (H) (n = 20) individuals. Clinical periodontal parameters and salivary 8-OHdG levels were evaluated. Results: The mean 8-OHdG level in the saliva of the CP group was significantly higher than H and CG groups (p < 0.001). Statistically significant correlation was only observed between the salivary levels of 8-OHdG and age (p < 0.05), probing depth (PD) and CAL (p < 0.001) in CP group. However, when CP patients were classified according to their CAL levels (CAL >= 3mm (n = 11) and CAL<3 mm (n = 9)) statistically significant correlation was only observed between the salivary levels of 8-OHdG and CAL >= 3 mm patients (p < 0.001). Conclusion: We suggest that elevated salivary levels of 8-OHdG may be a marker for disease activity and it may reflect indirectly disease severity parameters such as CAL.