Expression level of osteonectin mRNA as periodontal healing response after scaling and root planing on periodontitis patients

Periodontitis is a chronic multifactorial inflammatory disease associated with plaque biofilms and host-mediated inflammation. The use of osteonectin (ON) for monitoring the healing response after treatment is unclear. The present study aimed to evaluate the expression of osteonection mRNA as potential indicator of periodontal healing response after scaling and root planing (SRP) in periodontitis patients. Gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) samples were collected from five periodontally healthy subjects and ten periodontitis patients with probing pocket depth (PPDs) of 4-6 mm at baseline and 1, 2, and 4 weeks (T0, T1, T2, and T3) respectively after SRP. The osteonectin mRNA expression levels were measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The differences in the osteonection mRNA expression levels between the experiment groups were analyzed using the Friedman test. The correlations between changes in the osteonection expression levels and clinical parameters value were analyzed using the Pearson test. Compared to healthy subjects, periodontitis patient expressed low at T0 levels of osteonectin mRNA, which increased at T1 but decreased at T2 and T3. The differences were statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05). The osteonection mRNA expression levels were not significantly correlated with PPD and BOP value after SRP. Our findings suggest that the GCF levels of osteonectin mRNA were highest at 1 week after mechanical periodontal therapy and not correlated with PPD or BOP. Further studies with large sample size are required to clarify the involvement of osteonectin mRNA in periodontitis healing process.