Biomarkers during early healing of extraction procedures: a prospective case series.

Objectives: This study aims to: (1) evaluate the temporal profiles of VEGF-A, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, G-CSF, TNF-α, and β-NGF in surgical wound exudate (WF), comparing them to each patient's baseline values from gingival crevicular fluid (GCF); (2) describe a non-invasive, reliable method for collecting and processing WF to identify molecular markers involved in wound healing.

Materials and methods: Twenty-four patients underwent surgical tooth extraction. GCF samples were collected preoperatively (T0), and WF samples 24 h (T1) and 7 days (T2) postoperatively. Protein concentrations were measured using multiplex ELISA and expressed as mean ± SEM.

Results: IL-1β significantly increased from 23.58 ± 4.52 (T0) to 83.95 ± 21.39 (T1; p < 0.001). TNF-α rose from 1.82 ± 0.48 to 40.88 ± 11.27 (p < 0.0001), IL-6 peaked at 214.76 ± 38.21 (from 2.37 ± 0.98; p < 0.0001), and VEGF-A increased to 18.50 ± 4.85 (from 3.46 ± 2.19; p < 0.001).

Conclusions: The method enabled efficient, non-invasive assessment of protein levels relative to individual baselines, confirming expected biomarker trends in early wound healing.

Clinical relevance: Non-invasive biomarker analysis of wound exudate offers a practical approach to monitor healing and support targeted pain reduction and tissue repair strategies.