Gingival fluid IL-1β in postmenopausal females on supportive periodontal therapy. A longitudinal 2-year study

Posterior interproximal alveolar bone in 59 women, within 5 years after menopause, was assessed at baseline and after 2 years of supportive periodontal therapy (history of moderate/advanced periodontitis) using digitized image analysis. Baseline lumbar spine bone mineral density, smoking status, and yearly serum estradiol (E₂) levels also were obtained to group subjects. An additional 16 non-periodontitis postmenopausal women were followed 2 years for clinical and estrogen status. 2-min GCF IL-1β levels averaged from 2 baseline periodontal pockets (in periodontitis subjects) and 2 non-periodontitis sites (in non-periodontitis and periodontitis subjects) were determined with an enzyme immunoassay. A progressive and stable site were also monitored every 6 months for GCF IL-1β in 15 patients. Results after 2 years indicated that 17 subjects had no posterior interproximal sites losing ≥0.4 mm of alveolar crest bone height, while 13 subjects had ≥3 such sites. Using analysis of variance, none of the above clinical groupings resulted in a significant difference in mean baseline or longitudinal GCF IL-1β levels. However, when subjects who lost alveolar crest bone height were considered, E₂-sufficient subjects had significantly depressed baseline GCF IL-1β (in past-periodontitis sites) compared to E₂-deficient patients (9.1±2.1 versus 31.7±10.2 pg/2-min sample, p<0.05), suggesting E₂ influences gingival IL-1β production in progressive periodontitis patients.