Monocytic TNFα secretion patterns in IDDM patients with periodontal diseases*

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to identify whether monocytic TNFα secretion patterns could serve as a potential phenotypic discriminator for periodontal disease susceptibility within insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) patients. In 32 IDDM individuals the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated monocytic TNFα secretion dose-response characteristics were analyzed and related to two different periodontal status categories. Diabetics were divided into group A (gingivitis or mild periodontal disease) and group B (moderate to severe periodontal disease). In addition, 17 non-diabetic individuals with various degrees of periodontal disease served as control patients. Diabetics as a group had a significantly higher monocytic TNFα production in response to increasing Porphyromonas gingivalis A 7436 lipopolysaccharide concentrations (0, 0.003, 0.03, 0.3 and 3.0 μg/ml) as compared to non-diabetic patients with gingivitis or adult periodontitis (p gingivalis LPS concentrations between group A and B diabetics, as determined by two-way repeated measurements ANOVA (p 1C between the two diabetic groups, and the TNFα level was not significantly associated with the HbA_1C level within diabetic patients. These data suggest that the diabetic state results in an upregulated monocytic TNFα secretion phenotype (4.6-fold increase) which, in the presence of Gram-negative bacterial challenge, is associated with a more severe periodontal disease expression. In addition, approximately 40% (10 of 24) IDDM periodontitis patients in group B demonstrated a 62-fold elevation in TNFα secretion relative to non-diabetic gingivitis or periodontitis patients and a 13.5-fold increase relative to IDDM group A (gingivitis or mild periodontitis) patients.