Salivary thiobarbituric acid reacting substances and
malondialdehyde – Their relationship to reported smoking and to
parodontal status described by the papillary bleeding index
Affiliations: Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava,
Slovakia | Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University,
Bratislava, Slovakia | Private Stomatologic Praxis, Krupina, Slovakia | 1st Stomatologic clinic, Comenius University,
Bratislava, Slovakia | Hospital of the Department of home affairs,
Bratislava, Slovakia
Note: [] Corresponding author: Peter Celec, MD, Dipl. Ing., BSc,
Galbavého 3, 841 01 Bratislava, Slovak Republic. E-mail:
[email protected]
Abstract: Background. Thiobarbituric reacting substances (TBARS) are markers
of lipoperoxidation. The best-known specific TBARS is malondialdehyde (MDA).
Results from our previous studies have shown that TBARS can be measured in
saliva and are increased in patients with gingivitis. Whether MDA is the main
TBARS in saliva from patients with altered parodontal status is unknown. Aim. To observe the relationship between the parodontal status and
TBARS, MDA and the number of epithelial cells in saliva. Subjects & Methods. In Study I saliva and plasma samples of 15
patients (8F, 7M) suffering from inflammatory periodontal diseases were
gathered and TBARS levels were measured in these samples. In Study II saliva
samples from 217 consecutive stomatologic patients were collected and analysed
for TBARS spectrofluorometrically, MDA by high-performance liquid
chromatography and epithelial cell count by light microscopy. Papillary
bleeding index (PBI) was determined in standard stomatologic examination. Results. In Study I results from our previous studies showing no
correlation between salivary and plasma TBARS levels were confirmed. This
indicates that the local salivary level of TBARS is unlikely to be directly
affected by systemic oxidative stress. In Study II higher PBI was associated
independently (adjusted for age and sex) tightly with higher TBARS
(p<0.001) and with lower number of epithelial cells in saliva
(p<0.05). Smokers had higher salivary MDA levels (p<0.003) and lower
number of epithelial cells in saliva (p<0.01). Conclusion. Salivary TBARS are a simple parameter that
partially reflects the parodontal status with a potential usefulness in the
clinical stomatology. We show herein that salivary MDA is dependent on age and
smoking, but there is no correlation between MDA and PBI. Further studies
should uncover the main salivary TBARS compound in patients with altered
parodontal status and trace the origin of these salivary lipoperoxidation
markers.
