Nexus between Plasma Homocysteine Levels in Chronic Periodontitis Patients and Non-surgical Periodontal Therapy

Background: There have been studies of associations between disease of periodontal tissues and disorders affecting the entire body for instance cardiovascular diseases, stroke, asthma, low preterm birth weight, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. An inflammatory biomarker, plasma Homocysteine, has been identified as a factor that increases the chances for developing cardiovascular diseases. Previous studies have implied that there may be an analogous correlation between the levels of plasma- Homocysteine and chronic generalized periodontitis patients in otherwise systemically stable people. The aim behind this study is to determine the levels of plasma-Homocysteine in patients with chronic generalized periodontitis before and after non-surgical periodontal therapy. Materials and Methods: 36 patients were selected from outpatient department of Periodontology, divided into 2 groups, Group A entailing of 18 healthy control individuals, and Group B comprising of subjects with chronic generalized periodontitis which is further subdivided into Group B1 which includes chronic generalized periodontitis patients at baseline, and Group B2, chronic generalized periodontitis patients 6 months after scaling and root planning. Clinical parameters recorded and blood samples of all the group subjects were collected for analyzing the levels of plasma Homocysteine. Results: The outcome showed significant differences in the mean plasma Homocysteine levels across the 3 research groups. Levels of plasma Homocysteine were significantly higher in Group BI, which declined after the scaling but not to the levels found among healthy individuals. Conclusion: The result indicates an early detection of periodontitis by analyzing levels of this biomarker. Also, non-surgical periodontal therapy may supplement traditional plasma Homocysteine lowering therapy.