Comparative Analysis of Salivary Macrophage Inflammatory Protein 1- Alpha as a Biomarker in Patients of Mild Versus Moderate Chronic Periodontitis

Abstract Objective: To identify the levels of Macrophage Inflammatory Protein-1 alpha (MIP-1α) in the saliva of patients with chronic periodontitis with varying severity. Methodology: It is a cross-sectional comparative study. In this study, saliva samples were collected from a cohort of 88 patients, divided into three groups of patients with mild periodontitis, moderate periodontitis, and healthy controls. Periodontal status was also documented as healthy, mild and moderate periodontitis. Saliva collection was performed using the passive drool method, followed by centrifugation and storage at −40°C. MIP-1α was quantified using the ELISA technique. MIP-1α quantity in saliva was presented as mean and standard deviation (SD). Comparison between groups was done using a one-way ANOVA test. Results: The research revealed that, there was significant association between periodontal status and age (p-value = 0.007). MIP-1α levels were insignificantly higher in patients with periodontitis than in healthy controls (p value= 0.945) indicating no significant association between MIP-1α levels and periodontal status. Conclusion: The findings indicate that while salivary levels of MIP-1α were elevated in patients with periodontitis (compared to controls), they were insignificantly higher in cases of mild periodontitis compared to moderate cases. Further research with larger sample sizes is recommended to validate these results. Key Words: Biomarker; macrophage inflammatory protein; periodontitis; saliva