Salivary interleukin-17A and interleukin-18 levels in patients with celiac disease and periodontitis

Background: An increased level of interleukin-17A and interleukin-18 in the serum and intestinal mucosa of celiac disease patients re fl ecting the severity of villous atrophy and in fl ammation was documented. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the concentrations of salivary -17A, interleukin-1 beta, and interleukin-18 in patients with celiac disease who are on a gluten -free diet, both with and without periodontitis, and to compare these levels with those in healthy individuals. Methods: The study involved 23 participants with serologically con fi rmed celiac disease (CD) and 23 control subjects. The CD patients had been following a gluten -free diet (GFD) for a minimum of 1 year and had no other autoimmune disorders. The research involved collecting demographic data, conducting periodontal examinations, gathering unstimulated whole saliva, and performing enzyme -linked immunosorbent assays to measure salivary interleukin-17A, interleukin-1 beta, and interleukin-18 levels. Spearman ' s correlation analysis was utilized to explore the relationships between CD markers in patients on a GFD and their periodontal clinical fi ndings. Results: The periodontal fi ndings indicated signi fi cantly lower values in celiac disease patients adhering to a gluten -free diet compared to control subjects ( p = 0.001). No signi fi cant differences were found in salivary IL -17A, IL -18, and IL1B levels between celiac disease patients and control subjects. Nevertheless, the levels of all interleukins were elevated in periodontitis patients in both the celiac and control groups. The IL -1 Beta level was signi fi cantly higher in periodontitis patients compared to non-periodontitis patients in the control group ( p = 0.035). Signi fi cant negative correlations were observed between serum IgA levels and plaque index (r = - 0.460, p = 0.010), as well as gingival index (r = - 0.396, p = 0.030) in CD patients on a gluten -free diet. Conclusion: Celiac disease patients on gluten -free diet exhibited better periodontal health compared to control subjects. However, increased levels of salivary IL -17A, IL18 and IL -1B levels were associated with periodontitis. Additionally, serum IgA level was signi fi cantly inversely associated with periodontitis clinical manifestations and with salivary in fl ammatory mediators in CD patients on GFD.