Levels of Pro and Anti-inflammatory Citokynes and C-Reactive Protein in Patients with Chronic Periodontitis Submitted to Nonsurgical Periodontal Treatment.

Aim: to compare the levels of IFN-gamma, TGF-beta and C-reactive protein (CRP) in healthy patients (HP) and chronic periodontitis patients (CP) before and seven days after the last session of Non-Surgical Periodontal Treatment (NSPT). Materials and Methods: 40 subjects were divided into two groups: healthy (n= 20), and with chronic periodontitis (n = 20). Serum and gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) were collected from each patient and quantified for IFN-gamma, TGF-beta and CRP using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: IFN-gamma was found to be higher in the GCF of the CP group before NSPT in relation to the HP group (p<0.05), and it had significant higher levels after seven days of NSPT (p<0.05). The levels of TGF-beta in the GCF of CP patients before NSPT were significantly higher when compared to HP (p<0.05), but they decreased after seven days of NSPT (p>0.05). Serum CRP levels did not show statistical difference between CP and HP before or after NSPT. Conclusion: Therefore, our results demonstrated for the first time that NSPT causes early exacerbation of the immune response at the local level represented by increased levels of IFN-gamma and decreased levels of TGF-beta in the gingival crevicular fluid after seven days of treatment.