Release of cytokines by stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells in chronic periodontitis.

OBJECTIVE The emergence of periodontal medicine increased interest in defining the behaviour of peripheral blood cells in periodontitis subjects in comparison with healthy group. The aim of this study was to evaluate the levels of interleukin (IL)-8, tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), IL-6 and IL-10 released by Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) obtained from the peripheral blood of chronic periodontitis subjects. DESIGN PBMC samples were isolated from 19 systemically healthy donors, divided into generalized chronic periodontitis (n=10) and healthy (n=9) subjects. Cells were incubated for 24-48 h in 500 μL wells containing RPMI 1640 and stimulated with 1.0 ng/mL of E. coli LPS. Supernatants were used to quantify the amounts of IL-8, TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-10 released using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS PBMC cells from periodontitis subjects released higher levels of TNF-α and IL-6 than those from healthy subjects (P<0.05). Conversely, the supernatants of the stimulated PBMC cells obtained from healthy subjects presented higher amounts of IL-8 than those from periodontitis (P<0.05). No differences were observed in the levels of IL-10 (P>0.05) between groups. CONCLUSION In conclusion, the results of the present study showed that E. coli LPS-stimulated PBMC from subjects with periodontitis present a different pattern of cytokine release when compared to PBMC from healthy subjects. This phenomenon could have implications locally, in periodontitis, as well as in systemic diseases.