Salivary chemerin levels in periodontitis patients with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus: a comparative cross-sectional study

A link between chemerin, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and variations in health and disease has been suggested, but evidence to support the impact of chemerin on periodontal disease and glucose homeostasis is scarce. Thus, the aim was to estimate salivary chemerin levels (SCL) and assess their relation with periodontal disease. A total of ninety patients were categorized equally into group I (periodontally healthy), group II (periodontitis without diabetes), and group III (periodontitis with T2DM). Demographic details (age and gender), clinical parameters (plaque index, gingival index, probing pocket depth, bleeding on probing, and clinical attachment loss), blood parameters (fasting and post-prandial blood glucose levels and HbA1c), alveolar bone loss, and SCL were recorded for each participant. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to compare significant mean differences of study variables among three groups, followed by Scheffe’s post-hoc comparisons. The linear relationships between the study variables were assessed using Karl Pearson’s product-moment correlation. The mean values of clinical and blood parameters varied significantly ( P < 0.01) among the three groups. SCL also showed a significant difference in the mean values among these groups (F = 367.302, P < 0.01). Group I showed significantly lower SCL (0.043 ± 0.007) as compared to groups II (0.083 ± 0.006) and III (0.087 ± 0.007). A significant correlation was found between SCL and pocket probing depth in periodontitis patients with T2DM ( r = 0.379; P = 0.039). Periodontitis patients, irrespective of their diabetic status, showed elevated SCL compared to periodontally healthy individuals. This suggests that chemerin levels may significantly contribute to assessing the development and progression of periodontitis, potentially serving as a salivary biomarker for periodontitis.