Serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines are high in early childhood caries.

It is unknown whether serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines would be high in children with early childhood caries (ECC). This study investigated the association between serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines and severity of caries in preschoolers younger than 72 months. A case-control study was performed with a random sample of 72 children with ECC and 80 caries-free children. The explanatory variables were serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α, and NGAL) and the outcome was severity of ECC (number of decayed teeth). Thecrudeanalyses were used toestimate the association between each cytokine and ECC. Then, the analyses were adjusted for socioeconomic factors, excess weight and sugar sweetened beverages consumption using Poisson regression models. The estimated coefficients were expressed as Means Ratio (MR), with 95% confidence intervals (CI). In the crude analyses, the highest tertiles of IL-6 (MR = 1.47, IC = 1.09-2.00, p = 0.012), TNF-α (MR = 1.33, CI = 1.00-1.78, p = 0.040) and NGAL (MR = 2.20, CI = 1.39-3.49, p = 0.001) were associated to ECC. After adjustment, the highest tertiles of IL-6 levels (MR = 1.54, IC = 1.13-2.10, p = 0.005), and NGAL (MR = 1.71, CI = 1.04-2.80, p = 0.032) remained associated to ECC; while TNF-α was no longer associated to ECC (MR = 1.31, CI = 0.98-1.75, p = 0.066). Higher serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines were associated to severity of caries in preschoolers, suggesting that chronic inflammation underlies ECC.

Proinflammatory cytokines in early childhood caries: Salivary analysis in the mother/children pair.

HYPOTHESIS: Proinflammatory cytokines are increased in saliva of mother/children pairs with caries. DESIGN: Case-control study involving caries-free children (n = 20) and children with early childhood caries (ECC) (n = 20), and their mothers (n = 40). The maternal variables analyzed were waist circumference (WC), decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) and sugar intake; and in the children were body mass index (BMI), def-t and sugar intake. Salivary levels of VEGF, IL-6 and TNF-α were analyzed of mother/children pairs. RESULTS: In the mothers, salivary VEGF levels were correlated with DMFT (r = 0.35; p = .03), WC (r = 0.35; p = .02), and sugar intake (r = 0.32; p = .04). Higher salivary IL-6 levels were also correlated with maternal DMFT (r = 0.45; p = .004) and WC (r = 0.32; p = .04). In the children, higher salivary VEGF levels were correlated with higher def-t scores (r = 0.42; p = .008). Children with caries had a 63% higher median salivary VEGF and twofold higher mean IL-6 levels compared to caries-free children. Mothers of children with ECC showed higher mean of salivary IL-6 levels compared to those of children without ECC (p = .03). CONCLUSION: Salivary proinflammatory cytokines are correlated with the severity of caries in the mother-children pair. Obesity and excessive sugar consumption seem to underlie the associations between proinflammatory cytokines and caries in the family environment.