Correlation of IL-17A and RANKL concentration in GCF with periodontal disease

Periodontal diseases consist of chronic inflammation in periodontal tissues that induced by periodontophathic bacteria and develop by host immune responses. Several studies reported that IL-17 and RANKL are important in autoimmune diseases, inflammation and bone resorption. Since the exact role of them remains unknown, so the aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between IL-17A or RANKL concentrations and periodontal diseases. In this analytical and case control study; GCF samples were collected from forty patients with gingivitis and moderate to advanced chronic periodontitis referred to the periodontics clinic of Shahid Beheshti University of medical sciences. IL-17A and RANKL were assayed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The differences of IL-17 and RANKL concentration analyzed between gingivitis and periodontitis, by Mann-Whitney U-test. The protein level of IL-17A was significantly higher in periodontitis group, while there was not any significant difference regarding RANKL concentration. The elevated level of IL-17A in periodontitis suggests that IL-17A might be an important cytokine in pathogenesis of periodontal disease, which presumably exerts its effect independent of RANKL. Correlations between concentration IL-17A with PD and CAL amplify the role of IL-17A in periodontal tissue destruction.