Elevated Oral and Systemic Levels of Soluble Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells-1 (sTREM-1) in Periodontitis

The Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid cells 1 (TREM-1) is a cell-surface receptor of the immunoglobulin superfamily, involved in the propagation of the inflammatory response to bacterial challenge. Soluble (s)TREM-1 is released from the cell surface during the course of infection and is a useful inflammatory biomarker in the early diagnosis of systemic sepsis. The hypothesis of this study was that oral and systemic levels of sTREM-1 are elevated in periodontitis. Therefore, the aim was to investigate, by ELISA, the sTREM-1 concentrations in saliva and serum of individuals without periodontitis (control) and persons with chronic or generalized aggressive periodontitis. In saliva, sTREM-1 concentrations were higher in chronic and aggressive periodontitis than in the control group, by 3.3-fold and 5.6-fold, respectively. In serum, these differences were 1.7-fold and 2-fold, respectively. However, there were no significant differences between the two forms of periodontitis, neither in saliva nor in serum. Salivary and serum sTREM-1 levels positively correlated with full-mouth clinical periodontal parameters. In conclusion, the increased oral and systemic levels of sTREM-1 in periodontitis denote a value for this molecule as a biomarker for the disease and may also have implications in the association between periodontal infections and systemic inflammatory response.