title: Osteoprotegerin levels in peri-implant crevicular fluid.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the levels of soluble receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappaB ligand (sRANKL) and osteoprotegerin (OPG) in crevicular fluid of endosseous dental implants.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-six implants in 39 patients were evaluated. All patients were treated with root-type implants placed at least 16 months and loaded at least 12 months before the examination. Peri-implant crevicular fluid (PICF) samples were obtained from buccal and lingual aspects of implants. Modified plaque index, probing depth, gingival index, and bleeding on probing (BOP) were recorded at four sites per implant. PICF levels of sRANKL and OPG were analysed by ELISA. Spearman's correlations were utilised to relate biochemical data and clinical parameters.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The PICF level of sRANKL did not show significant correlation with the clinical parameters or the OPG level. The total amount of OPG was positively correlated with PICF volume, gingival index, and BOP (P<0.05) and negatively correlated with pack years (P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings of this preliminary study suggest that the crevicular fluid level of OPG deserves further investigation as a possible marker to evaluate the health status of surrounding tissues of dental implants, as this was not the case for the sRANKL level. Larger scale studies, particularly in peri-implantitis cases, may shed more light on this subject.
authors: Department of Periodontology, School of Dentistry, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey.
authors: Fatih
authors: F
authors: Arikan
authors: Nurcan
authors: N
authors: Buduneli
authors: Necil
authors: N
authors: Kütükçüler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016301:Alveolar Bone Loss / Q000378:metabolism; D015415:Biomarkers; D003758:Dental Implantation, Endosseous; D015921:Dental Implants; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005883:Gingival Crevicular Fluid / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D053244:Osteoprotegerin / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D010512:Periodontal Index; D010518:Periodontitis / Q000378:metabolism; D053245:RANK Ligand / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D015921:Dental Implants; D053244:Osteoprotegerin; D053245:RANK Ligand