Estimation of melatonin levels and its biosynthesis in gingival tissue saliva and plasma samples of non smokers and current smokers with and without chronic generalised periodontitis

Abstract

Melatonin N acetyl 5 hydroxy tryptamine is an indole amine hormone predominantly produced by the pineal gland This molecule was initially thought to be a regulator of circadian rhythym in the human body But later studies have emphasized that melatonin plays numerous roles in human physiology such as antioxidant anticancer and anti-inflammatory In this context melatonin has been researched for its association with the pathogenesis of periodontal disease Several studies have shown reduced melatonin levels in saliva and plasma samples of patients with periodontal disease compared to healthy subjects So far no study has been done on smokers and also no study has demonstrated the presence of melatonin in gingival tissues In this context this research was undertaken to measure melatonin levels in saliva plasma and gingival tissue samples of non smokers and current smokers with and without periodontal disease TNF alpha levels were also measured in addition to melatonin to assess if melatonin exerts an anti-inflammatory role in periodontal homeostasis. In addition to the above experiment RT PCR assay was carried out in the gingival tissue samples to assess if gingival tissues could synthesize melatonin Also flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry experiments were performed to quantify and localize melatonin receptors in gingival The results of this study demonstrated a significant lowering of melatonin in gingival tissue samples of smokers with and without periodontal disease associated with a significant elevation of TNF alpha in the same samples There were no significant differences in salivary and plasma melatonin levels between the different study groups A binary logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the relationship between gingival melatonin and TNF alpha levels This test revealed that a significant inverse relationship exists between the 2 in current smokers but not in non smokers With regard to RTPCR analysis the presence of AANAT and HIOMT genes in the gingival tissues revealed that the gingiva