Proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1β and TNF-α) and chemokines (IL-8 and MIP-1α as markers of pen-implant tissue condition

Analysis of pen-implant crevicular fluid (PICF) offers a non-invasive means of studying the host response in pen-implant disease and may provide an early indication of patients at risk for active disease. This study examined the PICF levels of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-8 (IL-8) and macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha (MIP-1 alpha) in patients with non-manifesting inflammation, early and late stages of mucositis. The study group comprised 90 adult healthy volunteers with endosseal titanium implants inserted. Samples were taken from pen-implant sulcus using a filter paper technique. Implant tissues were categorized clinically as healthy, early mucositis or advanced mucositis. Clinical manifestations were determined by: gingival index and bleeding on probing, plaque index and radiographic analyses. Cytokine concentrations were assesed using commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. Patients from the control group (healthy patients) have significantly lower concentrations of IL-1 beta, TNF-alpha, IL-8 and MIP-1 alpha in PICF compared with both groups with mucositis. Positive correlation was noted in the control group between IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha and between MIP-1 alpha and IL-8 in the group with early mucositis. The results suggest that cytokines could be prognostic markers of implant failure.