Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences

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CHANGES IN THE CYTOKINE LEVELS IN ADOLESCENTS WITH GINGIVITIS AFTER TREATMENT WITH PROPOLIS

STELA PEYCHEVA 1, ELISAVETA APOSTOLOVA 2*, ZHIVKO PEYCHEV 3, PETYA GARDJEVA 4, ANTON SLAVOV 5, MARIANNA MURDJEVA 4

1.Department of Paediatric Dental Medicine, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Medical University-Plovdiv, 15A Vassil Aprilov Blvd. 4002, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
2.Department of Pharmacology and Drug Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University-Plovdiv, 15A Vassil Aprilov Blvd. 4002, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
3.Department of Medical Informatics, Biostatistics and e-learning, Faculty of Public Health, Medical University-Plovdiv, 15A Vassil Aprilov Blvd. 4002, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
4.Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University-Plovdiv, 15A Vassil Aprilov Blvd. 4002, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
5.Department of Organic and Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Technology, University of Food Technologies–26 Maritsa Blvd., Plovdiv 4000, Bulgaria.

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The aim of this study was to determine the effect of two treatment approaches on the levels of IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-17A, IL-18, and IFN-γ in the gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) in adolescents with moderate gingivitis. The participants were divided randomly into two groups (n = 35) as follows: group A - instructed to use marketed toothpaste, and group AP - instructed to add 10 drops of Propolin® to the toothpaste before every brushing. Samples of GCF were collected at the first visit and on the 20th day of the study. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) were used for the assay of each cytokine concentration. We detected a significant reduction in the levels of IL-1β (p ˂ 0.01), TNF-α (p ˂ 0.01), IL-18 (p ˂ 0.05) and INF-γ (p ˂ 0.01) in group A on the 20th day in comparison to the initial levels. Participants in group AP registered significantly lower levels of IL-1β (p ˂ 0.001), IL-6 (p ˂ 0.001), TNF-α (p ˂ 0.001), IL-17A (p ˂ 0.05), IL-18 (p ˂ 0.01), IFN-γ (p ˂ 0.001). Comparing the cytokine levels in the groups on the 20th day of the treatment, we registered significantly lower levels of IL-1β (p ˂ 0.05) and IL-18 (p ˂ 0.05) in group AP when compared to group A. IL-18 and IL-1β could be used as inflammatory biomarkers in adolescents with gingivitis. The addition of propolis to the toothpaste resulted in a reduction of the gingival inflammation in adolescents with moderate gingivitis and greater gingival health improvement than the sole use of a toothpaste.