Journal of Dental Medicine (Aug 2003)
An evaluation on elastase enzyme activity in gingival crevicular fluid in periodontitis
Abstract
Statement of Problem: Changes in protein levels, host calls enzymes and inflammatory mediators in gingival"ncrevicular Fluid (GCF) are considered as diagnostic indicators of Periodontitis."nPurpose: he aim of the present study was to measure the elastase enzyme activity in gingival crevicular Fluid"namong patients with periodontitis."nMaterial and Methods: In this study, 52 periodontitis patients (experimental group) and 51 healthy subjects"nwithout any gingival inflammatio (control group) were participated. Subjects of the periodontitis group"nshowed pockets of 4-5 mm depth without gingival enlargement and recession or pockets of 1-2 mm depth"nwith gingival recession. For enzyme activity measurement, lOOu,! of gingival fluid of each sample was mixed"nwith lOOu! of enzyme substrate on the tube. The mixture was incubated at 34°c for lh with a buffer solution"nof 1ml volume and absorbance was read at 410nm with spectrophotometer. The enzyme activity differences"nbetween two groups were analyzed by student t test."nResults: The elastase enzyme activity in gingival crevicular fluid in subjects with periodontium destruction"nand control subjects was 153±11.3 and 52.7±10.4 enzyme unit in ml per minute, respectively. The difference"nbetween groups was statistically significant (PO.05)."nConclusion: Based on the findings of this study, the measurement of elastae enzyme activity could be a useful"nindication of tissue changes that may ultimately manifest clinically as periodontitis.