EVALUATION OF SERUM AND SALIVARY ALKALINE PHOSPHATASE LEVEL IN TOBACCO CIGARETTE SMOKERS WITH CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS

Background and Objective: Periodontitis is a highly prevalent disease, and it affects approximately 10.5% to 12% of the world's population. Tobacco smoking adversely affects periodontal health. ALP is an essential enzyme, as it is part of the normal turnover of periodontal ligament and bone homeostasis. Saliva has many advantages as a diagnostic media. With this background this study was undertaken to evaluate Serum and Salivary Alkaline phosphatase level in tobacco cigarette smokers with chronic periodontitis. Methods: A total sample size of 40 subjects with age range of 25-65 years were included and were divided into 2 groups. Group I included 20 male healthy never smokers as control group and Group II included 20 male subjects with the habit of tobacco cigarette smoking using more than 5 cigarettes per day with onset of minimum six months duration and above as study group. Alkaline phosphatase level in serum and saliva was estimated. The obtained data was subjected to statistical analysis using Mann Whitney test and Spearman's correlation test. Results: It was found that Serum ALP was higher than Salivary ALP and there was a signicant correlation between Serum ALP and Salivary ALP in Group I (Control group) and Group II (Study group). Serum ALP and Salivary ALP were both increased in Group II (Study group) compared to healthy controls. In Group II (Study group) with an increase in number of cigarettes smoked and duration of smoking there was an increase in both Serum ALP and Salivary ALP. In Group II (Study group) Serum ALP and Salivary ALP were higher in generalized periodontitis than localized periodontitis indicating the severity of chronic periodontitis. Conclusion: We therefore recommend salivary ALP as an early potential biomarker in tobacco cigarette smokers with chronic periodontitis for diagnosis, monitoring the disease progression, prognosis and treatment outcome.