Evaluation of Salivary Cytokine Profiles as Biomarkers for Early Detection of Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders

Introduction: To evaluate the salivary cytokine profiles in patients with oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) and compare them to healthy controls, focusing on the levels of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines, and to explore the correlation between these cytokine levels and the clinical features of OPMDs. Materials and Methods: Our study included 60 participants, of whom 30 had clinically diagnosed OPMDs, while the other 30 were healthy controls. The participants were asked to provide saliva for assessment of cytokine levels to be used for the study. In total, 5 cytokines were assessed for the study, which were tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-1β, transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) and IL-10, and were analysed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In OPMDs, the relationship between the clinical features and the level of the cytokines was analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation and the regression analytical methods. Results: The OPMD group had statistically higher levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β compared to the healthy controls ( P < 0.05). On the other hand, OPMD group levels of TGF-β were statistically significantly lower ( P < 0.01), while IL-10 levels had no statistically significant difference ( P = 0.25). Positive correlation of pro-inflammatory cytokines with clinical features such as lesion size and severity was observed ( P < 0.05). Changes in pro-inflammatory cytokines in relation to treatment, along with elevated TGF-β levels, suggest a plausible role of cytokines in tracking disease progress and response to therapy. Conclusions: Salivary cytokines like TNF-α, IL-6 and TGF-β serve as effective, non-invasive biomarkers for early detection, monitoring and improved management of OPMDs.