title: Preliminary insight into the periostin leverage during periodontal tissue healing.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Tissue repair and regeneration is assisted by the efficient coordination of cell and extracellular matrix interactions mediated by matricellular molecules such as periostin. Given its high expression around the teeth, the periodontal organ represents an ideal system to capture the protein dynamics during wound healing.
  
  
  METHODS
  An observational prospective case-control study was designed to characterize periostin changes over time after periodontal surgery in tissue, oral fluids and serum by histological, protein and mRNA analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Histological analysis showed lower periostin with a diffuse local distribution pattern in disease patients. Levels of periostin in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) increased over time for both groups, more noticeably in the periodontitis subjects. A transient and subtle change in circulating periostin levels was also noticed. The mRNA periostin levels contrasted with the protein levels and may indicate the underlying post-transcriptional regulatory process during chronic inflammation. Levels of known periodontal disease biomarkers such as IL-β, IL1-α, TNF-α, MIP-1α and CRP served as tissue stability markers and complemented the clinical parameters recorded.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The transient local increase in GCF periostin after eliminating the local etiology in periodontally affected sites suggests its importance in the maturation and stability of the connective tissue. The decreasing levels observed as the tissue healed highlight its spatial/temporal significance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.|Department of Oral Surgery and Implant Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6222-1341
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Padial-Molina
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Volk
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Hector F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Rios
keywords: periodontal disease; periodontal ligament; periodontium; periostin