Comparison of Salivary Lactate Dehydrogenase Levels in Patients with Chronic Periodontitis before and after Periodontal Therapy

Periodontal disease is an inflammatory disease of the tissues supporting the teeth caused by certain microorganisms and can lead to progressive erosion of the Periodontal Ligament and alveolar bone followed by pocket formation and/or gingival recession. Nowadays, saliva is utilized as a diagnostic fluid in medicine and dentistry. The enzymes, immunoglobulin, hormones, and bacterial products of the saliva can be indicators of a periodontal disease. The present study aimed to measure and compare the Lactic Dehydrogenase (LDH) enzyme in the saliva of the patients with chronic periodontitis who referred to the Periodontal Department, School of Dentistry, Mashhad, Iran, before and after the treatment.

The population of this interventional study included the patients who referred to the Periodontal Department, School of Dentistry, Mashhad, Iran. This study was conducted on 30 patients, and the inclusion criterion was pocket attachment loss with a depth of 3-5 mm. The patients were matched regarding the plaque selection. The saliva samples of the patients with moderate periodontitis were collected before phase-1 treatment (i.e., scaling, root planning, and health education) and 4 weeks after treatment. Approximately, 3mL unstimulated whole saliva was collected from each participant using the Spitting method, placed immediately in micro tubes, stored at -20ºC, and transferred to a laboratory to be kept at -80ºC. Once the sample temperature reached room temperature, they were centrifuged at 3000g for 5min. The supernatant clear liquid was used for LDH analysis. The data were analyzed in SPSS software through t-test.

The results showed that the mean values of LDH level were 8.57±1484 and 4.25±1112 mg/l before and after the treatment, respectively. Moreover, there was a significant difference before and after the treatment regarding the LDH level of saliva (P=0.01).

The results of this study showed that LDH enzyme levels were higher considerably in the saliva of patients with a periodontal disease before treatment, compared to post-treatment. This is due to the pathological processes that occur in periodontal tissues leading to the release of intracellular enzymes.