IL-1 IN GINGIVAL CREVICULAR FLUID FOLLOWING CLOSED ROOT PLANING AND PAPILLARY FLAP DEBRIDEMENT

Interleukin (IL)-1 alpha and beta are cytokines which can mediate infl ammatory, bone resorbing, and reparative effects in the periodontium, but few longitudinal data exist exploring their role following periodo ntal therapy. This study examined gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) conc entrations of IL-1 alpha and IL-1 beta at sites with shallow sulci (SS ) or inflamed moderate/advanced pockets (M/AP) before and 6 months aft er treatment with closed scaling/root planing (SC/RP) or papillary fla p debridement (PFD), all in the same subject (n = 14 patients). No sig nificant differences were noted in IL-1 alpha or beta concentrations ( determined with two-site enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays) between S S and M/AP sites at baseline. While both therapies improved clinical p arameters of periodontal disease, IL-1 alpha concentration increased s ignificantly (p < 0.05) in M/AP-PFD sites 6 months after treatment, bu t were unchanged in other groups. IL-1 beta concentrations were numeri cally lower after therapy, except for a significant increase (p < 0.05 ) in M/AP-PFD sites. These data suggest that surgical wound healing in an inflamed, plaque-infected site (M/AP-PFD) results in prolonged pro duction of IL-1, which may be a reflection of the extent of tissue tra uma and delayed wound healing. In spite of increased IL-1 levels, thes e sites demonstrated significant short-term improvement in clinical at tachment level (+ 1.8 mm, p less-than-or-equal-to 0.001) postoperative ly.