ABSTRACT
Background: Periodontal disease is associated with immune dysregulation, and cytokines released can add on to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-associated cytokine storm, further worsening the related adverse outcomes. Specific studies investigating cytokine levels in COVID-19 patients with periodontal disease are lacking. Examining the correlation between these conditions could aid in categorizing risk categories, determining referrals, and strengthening oral hygiene protocols. The current study sought to evaluate cytokine levels in the saliva of COVID-19-positive patients with and without periodontal disease. Materials and Methods: Twenty-six COVID-19-positive patients were subjected to periodontal examination, saliva collection, and assessment of cytokine levels through cytokine bead-based multiplex assay, using fluorescence-encoded beads with flow cytometry (BD FACS LSRFortessa). Eleven cytokines were assessed (interleukin [IL] 2, 4, 6, 10, 17A, and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2/monocyte chemoattractant protein-1), C-X-C motif chemokine ligand (CXCL) 8/IL 8, CXCL 9/monokine-induced gamma interferon [MIG]), and CXCL 10 (chemokine IFN-gamma inducible protein 10 kDa). The cytokine levels of the recruited subjects were also compared graphically with the salivary cytokine levels reported in the literature for health, COVID-19, and periodontal disease alone. Results: Out of 26 COVID-19-positive patients, 17 had periodontal disease. Levels of all cytokines were raised in patients with both diseases when compared to values reported in literature for health, periodontal disease alone, or COVID-19 alone. However, there was no statistical difference among the recruited subjects for IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17A, IFN-gamma, TNF-α, CCL2, CXCL 8, and CXCL 10. MIG levels were found to be higher in periodontally healthy, COVID-19-positive subjects (P = 0.01). Conclusions: Periodontal disease might contribute to the COVID-19-induced cytokine storm, potentially amplifying its impact.
ABSTRACT
The present work was carried out during the emergence of Delta Variant of Concern (VoC) and aimed to study the change in SARS CoV-2 viral load in Covishield vaccinated asymptomatic/mildly symptomatic health-care workers (HCWs) to find out the optimum isolation period. The SARS CoV-2 viral load was carried out in sequential samples of 55 eligible HCWs which included unvaccinated (UnV; n = 11), single-dose vaccinated (SDV, n = 20) and double-dose vaccinated [DDV, n = 24; short-interval (<6 weeks)] subjects. The mean load of envelope (E) gene on day 5 in SDV [0.42 × 105 copies/reaction] was significantly lower as compared to DDV [6.3 × 105 copies/reaction, P = 0.005] and UnV [6.6 × 105 copies/reaction, P = 0.001] groups. The rate of decline of SARS CoV-2 viral load in the initial 5 days of PCR positivity was significantly higher in SDV as compared to that in DDV (Mean log decline 0.39 vs. 0.19; P < 0.001). This was possibly due to interference of adenoviral immunity of first dose of adenovirus-vectored vaccine in double-dose vaccinated HCWs who had received vaccines within a shorter interval (<6 weeks).
