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Salivary interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in patients with recurrent aphthous ulceration.

BACKGROUND
Recurrent apthous ulceration (RAU) is a well known oral disease which seems to be mediated principally by the immune system. However, it is still a matter of debate which part of the immune system is implicated in its pathogenesis as a reaction to the still unknown antigen. The aim of this study was to evaluate salivary cytokines, interleukin (IL)-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha.


METHODS
In 26 patients with minor RAU, age range of 23-49 years (mean 27.3 years), during both the acute phase and remission and in 26 healthy controls, age range of 22-64 years (mean 30.1 years), salivary IL-6 and TNF-alpha levels were determined by use of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Statistical analysis was performed by use of descriptive statistics.


RESULTS
Significant differences in salivary TNF-alpha between healthy controls and patients with acute RAU and during the remission period were found (P < 0.001) as well as between patients with acute RAU and those during the remission period (P < 0.001). No differences in salivary IL-6 between all three groups could be found.


CONCLUSIONS
We might conclude that elevated salivary TNF-alpha levels during acute RAU and especially during the remission period are of importance in RAU, whereas salivary IL-6 levels seem not to play a role in the RAU disease.