The Effect of Non-Surgical Periodontal Therapy on Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic and recurrent inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract characterised by complex interactions between genetic susceptibility, environmental factors, microbiota and host immune response. It has two main forms, Crohn's disease (CD) and Ulcerative colitis (UC). The main mechanism of IBD pathogenesis is dysregulated host immune response to commensal microbiota and disruption of the balance of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in genetically predisposed individuals. Periodontitis is a multifactorial inflammatory disease associated with dental biofilm resulting in the loss of periodontal supporting tissues and subsequently teeth. Although the occurrence of the disease depends on multifactorial factors, bacterial plaque is the primary etiological factor and various bacterial species found in plaque are responsible for initiating and maintaining the inflammatory and immune response in periodontal disease. Periodontal diseases are known to contribute to many systemic diseases/conditions or systemic disorders are known to affect periodontal disease. Although the relationship between IBD and periodontitis is based on the potential link between oral and intestinal microbiomes and host immunoinflammatory response, the pathological interactions between the two diseases have not yet been determined. From this point of view, the aim of our study was to investigate the effect of periodontal status on serum, saliva and gingival biomarkers (TIM-3, TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-17) in patients with IBD and to evaluate the relationship between these values and periodontal clinical parameters. This is the first study to examine TIM-3 levels in saliva, serum and gingival samples in patients with IBD and periodontitis with IBD.