Assessment of the antioxidant levels in sera of periodontitis patients with or without diabetes mellitus

Background: Periodontal disease and diabetes mellitus (DM) have a two-way relationship, the former being a major complication of the latter. However, while hyperglycemia has been identified as a factor activating oxidative stress, the role of antioxidants in periodontal disease is not fully understood. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the involvement of antioxidant enzymes in the systemic effects of chronic periodontitis and to assess their role as disease biomarkers. Method: Peripheral blood was collected from the antecubital vein. DTNB (5,5ʹ-dithiobis (2-nitrobenzonic acid), Beauchamp and Fridovich, hydrogen peroxide reduction, and phosphomolybdenum assays were used to determine superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione (GSH), and total antioxidant (TAOC) levels; respectively; from the sera of chronic periodontitis patients with or without DM type II and from healthy controls. Results: Serum SOD levels were significantly higher (p <0.001) in healthy controls (group III) than those in periodontitis patients with DM (group II), which in turn were significantly higher than those in periodontitis patients without DM (Group 1). GSH, CAT, and TAOC levels were significantly higher (p < 0.001) in group III than those in groups I and II, but CAT and TAOC levels were not significantly different between groups I and II. Conclusion: Antioxidant levels decrease in chronic disease conditions such as periodontitis with and without systemic diseases such as DM. Therefore, they are potentially effective biomarkers of chronic periodontitis. Moreover, periodontal disease might not be confined to the periodontium and could have systemic effects.