Arginine metabolites linked to smoking related periodontitis

Researchers have found in a new study that arginine metabolites are linked to smoking related periodontitis.

The study conducted by Melis Yilmaz and team showed that Periodontitis due to smoking and salivary levels of ADMA (asymmetric dimethylarginine) and SDMA (symmetric dimethylarginine) were associated.

The findings of this study were published in Oral Diseases.

The term "periodontitis" refers to a group of inflammatory disorders that can damage the periodontium, the structure that supports teeth, as well as the gingivae, alveolar bone, cementum, and periodontal ligament. Periodontal disease can cause tooth loss and contribute to systemic inflammation. Any type of tobacco usage increases the chance of getting more serious periodontal disease. Numerous studies have demonstrated that smokers' results from non-surgical and surgical periodontal therapy are inferior to those of non-smokers. Cigarette use is widespread throughout the world, and in addition to its detrimental impacts on health, its effects on periodontitis are notable. Cardiovascular disorders are among the systemic inflammatory diseases that are influenced by arginine metabolites. As a result, the goal of this study was to compare the levels of IL-6 and arginine metabolites in healthy and periodontitis patients' serum and saliva based on their smoking status.

There were four groups in the study: healthy people (control; n=20), smokers with healthy periodontium; nonsmokers with Stage-III Grade-B generalized periodontitis; and smokers with Stage-III Grade-C generalized periodontitis; n=18. We measured periodontal parameters. ELISA kits were used to measure the amounts of IL-6, while LC-MS/MS was used to analyze the metabolites of methylated arginine.

The key findings of this study were:

1. Salivary levels of ADMA and SDMA were higher in the periodontitis group in nonsmokers than in the control group (p 0.001, p = 0.010).

2. Smokers with periodontitis had higher saliva concentrations of arginine (p = 0.030, p = 0.001) and ADMA (p = 0.033, p 0.001) compared to smokers and non-smokers.

In conclusion, the results of this study clearly states that smoking raised the blood levels of ADMA, SDMA, and L-NMMA exclusively in those with periodontitis.

Reference: 

Yilmaz, M., Yay, E., Atalay, N., Balci, N., Kurgan, Ş., Toygar, H., & Serdar, M. A. (2022). Do Arginine Metabolites Have a Role in Periodontitis Due to Smoking? A New Perspective. In Oral Diseases. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1111/odi.14448