Gingival fluid IL-1βin postmenopausal females on supportive periodontal therapy

Abstract. Posterior interproximal alveolar bone in 59 women, within 5 years after menopause, was assessed at baseline and after 2 years of supportive periodontal therapy (history of moderate/advanced periodontitis) using digitized image analysis. Baseline lumbar spine bone mineral density, smoking status, and yearly serum estradiol (E₂) levels also were obtained to group subjects. An additional 16 non-periodontitis postmenopausal women were followed 2 years for clinical and estrogen status, 2-min GCF IL–1β levels averaged from 2 baseline periodontal pockets (in periodontitis subjects) and 2 non-periodontitis sites (in non-penodontitis and periodontitis subjects) were determined with an enzyme immunoassay, A progressive and stable site were also monitored every 6 months for GCF IL–1β in 15 patients. Results after 2 years indicated that 17 subjects had no posterior interproximal sites losing ≥0.4 mm of alveolar crest bone height, while 13 subjects had ≥3 such sites. Using analysis of variance, none of the above clinical groupings resulted in a significant difference in mean baseline or longitudinal GCF IL–1≥ levels, However, when subjects who lost alveolar crest bone height were considered. E₂-sufficient subjects had significantly depressed baseline GCF IL-β (in past-periodontitis sites) compared to E₂;-deficient patients (9.1 ± 2,1 versus 31,7±10.2 pg/2-min sample. p <0.05), suggesting E₂ influences gingival IL-lβ production in progressive periodontitis patients.