Association between Periodontal Disease and serum levels of IL-17 in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Statement of Problem: Several lines of evidence have indicated that IL-17 might be important in the pathogenesis of RA and chronic periodontitis. IL-17 could be secreted primarily by T-helper cells. The purpose of this study was to evaluate periodontal status of rheumatoid arthritis patients and its correlation with serum level of IL-17 in comparison to chronic periodontitis patients. In the present case-control study, serum level of I1-17 was determined by Eliza technique using PCR-RFLP method in 142 RA patients and 106 control subjects. Specific measures for periodontitis included probing pocket depth (PDD), clinical attachment level (CAL). Bleeding score (BI) and plaque score (PI) were also assessed and compared in the two groups. No significant association was found between different paraclinical findings (including CRP, RF, ESR) and age of the onset of RA. The highest level of IL-17 was found in RA patients with moderate to severe periodontitis (p =0.013). The prevalence and severity of periodontitis were higher in the test group. In the present study, Kruskal-Wallis test was used for evaluation of serum level of IL-17. The findings of the present study suggest that rheumatoid arthritis patients are prone to severe periodontitis and the level of IL-17 in the serum is positively associated with severity of periodontitis.