title: The significance of salivary interleukin 6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha in patients with oral leukoplakia.
abstract: It is well known that cytokines play an important role in oral diseases. Furthermore, increased levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) have been reported in patients with cancer and premalignant lesions such as oral lichen planus and oral submucous fibrosis. The aim of this study was to assess salivary IL-6 and TNF-alpha levels in 30 patients with histopathologically confirmed leukoplakia (age range 24-78, mean 52.3 years) in comparison to 34 controls (age range 27-79, mean 52 years). Salivary IL-6 and TNF-alpha were determined by enzyme linked immunoadsorbent assay. Statistical analysis was performed by use of Mann-Whitney test for independent samples and values lower than 0.05 were considered as significant (p<0.05). Significantly higher levels of salivary IL-6 and TNF-alpha in patients with oral leukoplakia when compared to healthy controls were found. The levels of salivary IL-6 and TNF-alpha did not correlate with the size of leukoplakia (lesions) nor with its localization regarding high and low risk sites for malignant transformation. Levels of salivary IL-6 and TNF-alpha were not influenced by smoking habits. We can conclude that increased salivary IL-6 and TNF-alpha might play a certain role in oral leukoplakia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Medicine, School of Dental Medicine, University of Zagreb, Gundulićeva 5, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia. vbrailo@yahoo.com
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Brailo
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vucićević-Boras
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cekić-Arambasin
authors.forename: I Z
authors.initials: IZ
authors.lastname: Alajbeg
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Milenović
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lukac
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000378:metabolism*; D007972:Leukoplakia, Oral / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D015850:Interleukin-6; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha