title: Salivary Visfatin Concentration in Response to Non-surgical Periodontal Therapy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Visfatin is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that has been associated with several immunomodulating processes. The relationship between visfatin and periodontitis has been the subject of a few studies that have described visfatin as an inflammatory marker for periodontitis. However, studies on visfatin as a potential therapeutic target in periodontal diseases are scarce. In the present study, we evaluated the alterations in salivary visfatin levels in response to non-surgical periodontal treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty individuals with moderate to severe chronic periodontitis and twenty periodontally healthy individuals were selected for this study according to clinical parameters. Patients with chronic periodontitis were treated by non-surgical periodontal therapy. Clinical parameters were recorded and saliva samples were obtained from the control group and test group before (T1 group) and one month after periodontal treatment (T2 group). Salivary visfatin concentrations were measured by standard enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Statistical analysis was performed with the statistical software SPSS, version 18.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Visfatin was detectable in all samples. T1 and control groups were significantly different in terms of clinical parameters and visfatin levels. Visfatin concentrations were reduced significantly after non-surgical periodontal therapy. Periodontal treatment also resulted in significant reductions of all clinical parameters with the exception of clinical attachment level.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results demonstrated that salivary levels of visfatin are reduced after non-surgical periodontal therapy to the levels comparable with those found in healthy individuals. Therefore, the salivary visfatin level may have the potential to be a target marker for assessment of responses to non-surgical periodontal therapy. However, more studies with larger sample sizes are necessary to validate these findings.
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Periodontics, Dental School, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences , Qazvin, Iran .
authors.forename: Zahra Alizadeh
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Tabari
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Periodontics, Dental School, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences , Qazvin, Iran .
authors.forename: Fatemeh Baharak
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Ghaedi
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Immunology, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences , Qazvin, Iran .
authors.forename: Abbas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Azadmehr
authors.affiliation: Dentist, Private Practitioner, Iran .
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nohekhan
authors.affiliation: Dentist, Private Practitioner, Iran .
authors.forename: Mohammad Amir Alizadeh
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Tabrizi
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Periodontics, Dental School, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences , Tehran, Iran .
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza Talebi
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Ardakani
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Periodontics, Dental School, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences , Qazvin, Iran .
authors.forename: Nima
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Naddafpour
keywords: Adipokines; Chronic periodontitis; Nicotinamide phosphoribosyl transferase; Saliva; Therapy