Correlation of serum vitamin D and IL-8 to stages of periodontitis: a case-control analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The current literature lacks the correlation between serum levels of vitamin D and interleukin-8 (IL-8) to the stages of periodontitis. The present research objectives are to evaluate the serum levels of vitamin D and IL-8 in periodontitis participants and healthy controls and to measure their correlation with the stages of periodontitis. METHODS: The current case-control study was conducted on patients with periodontitis and healthy controls. After obtaining a questionnaire from the participants, the following clinical parameters were measured; periodontal probing depth (PPD), clinical attachment loss (CAL), plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), bleeding on probing (BOP), and tooth count. The serum levels of vitamin D and IL-8 were measured using ELISA kits. Then, we measured the correlation of the stages of periodontitis with the serum levels of vitamin D and IL-8. RESULTS: Ninety-eight participants; 52 with periodontitis and 46 healthy controls were included. The patients with periodontitis showed a significantly lower level of vitamin D, higher PPD, CAL, BOP, and lower number of teeth than the controls. In addition, serum vitamin D significantly correlated with the stages of periodontitis. Serum IL-8 showed no significant difference between the study and control groups while it does not significantly correlate with the stages of periodontitis. CONCLUSION: The current study's findings suggest a potential association between serum level of vitamin D with severity of periodontitis which necessitates screening vitamin D status in patients with periodontitis and investigating the possibility of vitamin D supplementation in decreasing the progression of periodontitis.