Diagnostic Utility of Salivary Matrix Metalloproteinase-8 (MMP-8) in Chronic Periodontitis: A Novel Approach

摘要

Currently, diagnosis of chronic periodontitis is based on clinical methods which are cumbersome and have been shown to have inherent errors and drawbacks including inability to detect active disease. There is therefore an urgent need for a timely, cost-effective and less cumbersome method. Salivary matrix metalloproteinase-8 has been shown in some studies to be a promising bio-marker of chronic periodontitis. This was a case-control study conducted at the University College Hospital, Ibadan. It had 40 cases and 40 controls designed to assess the diagnostic ability of salivary MMP-8 in periodontal disease. Unstimulated whole saliva was assessed using the Quantikine human total MMP-8 ELISA kit from RD~(?) systems Europe.