Expression of Leptin and Visfatin in Gingival Tissues of Chronic Periodontitis With and Without Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Study Using Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay and Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction

Background: The aim of this study is to investigate the protein and gene expression of leptin and visfatin in gingival tissue from patients with chronic periodontitis (CP), patients with CP and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and healthy individuals. Methods: The study includes 50 individuals: 10 healthy individuals, 20 patients with CP, and 20 patients with CP and T2DM. Plaque index, gingival index, probing depth, and clinical attachment loss were measured, and gingival biopsies were obtained. Leptin and visfatin protein expression in gingival tissues was determined using enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay, and messenger RNA (mRNA) expression was measured via real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results: The highest leptin mRNA and protein expression was observed in the control group and was significantly (P <= 0.05) different from the CP and CP+T2DM groups. Gingival tissues from patients with CP and T2DM had a significant increase in visfatin and a decrease in leptin gene and protein expression (P <0.05) compared with both controls and patients with CP. Conclusion: Expression of leptin and visfatin in the gingival tissues suggests a possible role for these adipokines in the pathogenesis of CP and T2DM.