title: Salivary levels of HNP 1-3 are related to oral ulcer activity in Behçet's disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Saliva contains antimicrobial peptides derived from oral epithelium as well as neutrophils in the innate immune response. The aim of this study was to examine the association between salivary human neutrophil peptide (HNP) 1-3 levels originating from neutrophils and oral ulcers in patients with Behçet's disease (BD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety-five patients with BD (F/M: 39/56; mean age: 38.7 ± 11.9 years) and 53 healthy controls (HC; F/M: 23/30; mean age: 35.2 ± 10.1 years) were included in the study. The disease control group (F/M: 20/33; mean age: 33.7 ± 10.7 years) was comprised of patients with oral infection regarding endodontic infection (n = 32) and pericoronitis (n = 21). Salivary HNP 1-3 levels of groups were measured in unstimulated samples by ELISA (Hycult, the Netherlands).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A statistically significant increase was found in salivary HNP 1-3 levels of patients with BD (2268.28 ± 1216.38 μg/ml) compared with HC (1836.49 ± 857.76 μg/ml), patients with endodontic infection (849.9 ± 376.1 μg/ml), and patients with pericoronitis (824.3 ± 284.02 μg/ml; P = 0.024, 0.000 and 0.000, respectively). The ratio of active oral ulcer (100%, n = 14) was higher in low HNP 1-3 levels (≤ 1000 μg/ml) than the others (66.7%, n = 54) in active patients with BD (P = 0.008). Moreover, salivary HNP 1-3 levels were significantly lower in patients with endodontic infection and patients with pericoronitis compared with those in the HC group and patients with BD (P = 0.000).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A decrease in salivary HNP 1-3 levels might be a biological factor for predisposition to oral ulcers in patients with BD and oral infection in healthy patients.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Health Informatics and Technologies, Faculty of Health Sciences Department of Endodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Marmara University, Istanbul Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Gulhane School of Medicine, Ankara Department of Rheumatology Institute of GastroenterologyDepartments of Haematology-Immunology Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Gonca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mumcu
authors.forename: Hale
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cimilli
authors.forename: Ümit
authors.initials: Ü
authors.lastname: Karacayli
authors.forename: Nevsun
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Inanc
authors.forename: Filiz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Türe-Özdemir
authors.forename: Emel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Eksioglu-Demiralp
authors.forename: Tülin
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ergun
authors.forename: Haner
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Direskeneli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004848:Epithelium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D019226:Oral Ulcer / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D010497:Pericoronitis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D011671:Pulpitis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism; D055815:Young Adult; D023084:alpha-Defensins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D023084:alpha-Defensins; C406413:human neutrophil peptide 1; C406416:human neutrophil peptide 2; C406427:human neutrophil peptide 3