Evaluation of Macrophage Inflammatory Protein-1α as a Periodontal Disease Biomarker

Periodontal disease is a chronic progressive state of inflammation pertaining to supporting tissues of the dentition that culminates in loss of the affected teeth. Currently, diagnosis and monitoring of periodontal disease progression is accomplished by performing a full-mouth clinical and radiological examination which is time-consuming and also requires elaborate infrastructure and equipment, which are not always available. Limitations of the conventional diagnostic techniques necessitate the development of point-of-care testing (POCT) which could serve as a rapid, feasible and affordable screening tool for periodontal disease.MIP-1α is a cysteine-cysteine (C-C) chemokine that is secreted by a variety of cells like macrophages, fibroblasts, epithelial cells and endothelial cells. They principally serve to recruit leukocytes like monocytes, T lymphocytes, natural killer cells, dendritic cells and granulocytes to the site of inflammation. Hence, the current study has a two fold aim; first, to determine the feasibility of MIP-1α as a periodontal disease biomarker; and second, to correlate the value of MIP-1α obtained from oral rinse sample with the periodontal disease severity.