Introduction Periodontitis and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) are long-lasting inflammatory conditions that lead to tissue damage, oxidative stress, and changes in immune responses. Recent studies indicate a potential biological link between periodontal inflammation and the development of oral cancer. Salivary biomarkers such as chemerin and malondialdehyde (MDA) may serve as non-invasive tools for early diagnosis and disease monitoring. This study was designed to assess and compare salivary chemerin and MDA levels in three groups: healthy individuals, patients with periodontitis, and those with OSCC. Methods This study was conducted on 75 participants distributed evenly among the three groups: healthy individuals (Group A), periodontitis patients (Group B), and OSCC patients (Group C). Clinical periodontal parameters, including Oral Hygiene Index-Simplified (OHI-S), Russell's periodontal index, probing pocket depth (PPD), and clinical attachment level (CAL), were recorded. Unstimulated saliva samples were collected and analyzed for chemerin and MDA levels using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. Statistical analysis was done using analysis of variance (ANOVA), Tukey's post hoc test, and Pearson's correlation coefficient, with p<0.05 considered statistically significant. Results Salivary chemerin and MDA levels showed a progressive increase from healthy controls to periodontitis patients and OSCC patients. One-way ANOVA revealed statistically significant differences among the three groups for both chemerin (F(2,72)=4.28; p=0.017) and MDA (F(2,72)=3.45; p=0.037). Tukey's post hoc analysis demonstrated significant pairwise differences between all groups for both biomarkers (p<0.001), indicating increasing levels with disease severity. Pearson's correlation analysis showed a statistically significant positive correlation between chemerin and MDA, suggesting an association between inflammatory and oxidative stress pathways in periodontal disease. Conclusion Salivary chemerin and MDA levels were significantly increased in periodontitis and OSCC patients, with the highest levels observed in OSCC. These findings suggest that chemerin and MDA may serve as promising non-invasive salivary biomarkers for the diagnosis, risk assessment, and monitoring of periodontal disease and OSCC. Further large-scale longitudinal studies are recommended to validate their clinical applicability.
Jadhav et al. (Fri,) studied this question.