Immune-related gene expression in severe periodontitis assessed by NanoString technology: A preliminary study

TL;DR

This study explores immune-related gene expression in severe periodontitis using saliva samples and identifies potential biomarkers for disease severity.

Contribution

The study introduces salivary gene expression profiling as a novel approach for identifying biomarkers in severe periodontitis.

Findings

26 genes showed significant differential expression in severe periodontitis patients compared to controls.

HLA-DRB1 and CCR1 were notably upregulated and identified as potential biomarker candidates.

Salivary RNA analysis proved feasible for detecting molecular markers related to periodontitis severity.

Abstract

Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease characterized by the destruction of the periodontal attachment apparatus, which includes alveolar bone, periodontal ligament, and cementum. This destruction is driven by a dysregulated host immune response to pathogenic subgingival biofilm. The present preliminary study aimed to evaluate immune-related gene expression patterns in patients with stage III/IV periodontitis utilizing the NanoString nCounter® platform. Unstimulated saliva samples were collected from 12 individuals: ten with severe periodontitis (stage III/IV) and two periodontally healthy controls. Total RNA was isolated and analyzed using the nCounter® Human Inflammation Panel, which profiles 249 inflammation-associated human genes. Data normalization and differential expression analysis were performed with nSolver™ software. Following quality control, genes with low expression (mean normalized counts < 20) were excluded, resulting in 89 genes available for comparison. Among these, 26 genes (29.2%) met a predefined effect-size threshold (|log2FC| ≥ 1), comprising 23 upregulated and 3 downregulated transcripts in the periodontitis group. Notably, the upregulated genes HLA-DRB1 (P ═ 0.003; FDR = 0.267) and CCR1 (P ═ 0.007; FDR = 0.312) exhibited relatively large log2 fold changes and the lowest unadjusted P values; however, neither retained significance after FDR correction. These findings underscore the feasibility of salivary gene expression profiling as a method for identifying molecular markers associated with disease severity. Given their roles in immune activation and leukocyte recruitment, HLA-DRB1 and CCR1 emerge as potential biomarker candidates for detection, risk stratification, and therapeutic monitoring in periodontitis, necessitating validation in larger, well-characterized cohorts.

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