Comparison of salivary beta-defensin-1 levels in patients with periodontitis before and after phase I periodontal therapy

Background. This study compared human β-defensin 1 (hBD-1) salivary levels in patients with periodontitis before and after phase I periodontal therapy. Methods. This controlled before-and-after study included 16 patients in the intervention group and 28 participants in the control group. Patients in the intervention group had stage 3 grade B periodontitis with no systemic diseases and had not taken any medications in the last six months. The control group included participants with healthy periodontium. Before and after phase I periodontal therapy, salivary samples were collected from the intervention group. ELISA was used to measure hBD-1 levels. Results. Salivary levels of hBD-1 decreased after phase I periodontal treatment in periodontitis patients, approaching those in healthy individuals. However, this reduction was not statistically significant (P=0.389). In patients with a probing depth (PD) of at least 3 mm, salivary levels of hBD-1 decreased significantly (P=0.019) following the intervention. There was no significant correlation between changes in hBD-1 levels and clinical indices, such as clinical attachment loss (CAL), probing depth, or bleeding index (BI) (P˃0.05). Conclusion. The current study demonstrated promising results concerning a probable link between hBD-1 and periodontitis. However, more research with sufficiently large sample sizes and more robust study designs is necessary.