Investigation of leptin levels in periodontal wound healing: A preliminary study

Background and Objectives: Leptin (Ob) is an obese protein and is known to maintain tissue integrity. Off late, there are reports that leptin aids in dermal wound healing. However, to date, there are no reports on whether leptin has a similar role in periodontal wound healing. Hence, the present study was undertaken to explore whether leptin has a similar role in periodontal wound healing. Materials and Methods: A total of 15 patients (10 males and 5 females) diagnosed as periodontitis were selected who fell under the age range of 30–39 years. The gingival crevicular fluid was collected for leptin analysis from the study group at baseline (who acted as pre-treatment controls), 30th day following non-surgical periodontal therapy (which coincides with the surgical intervention, i.e. open flap periodontal surgery), and at the 3rd day, 14th day, and 35th day following surgical intervention which corresponds to the various phases of periodontal wound healing, acted as post-treatment tests groups. Leptin levels were determined from individual gingival crevicular fluid samples by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: There was a little increase in gingival crevicular fluid leptin levels following surgical intervention which was statistically not significant (P > 0.01). One-way analysis of variance and Tukey test were applied for statistical significance. Conclusion: Within the limitations of our study, it can be concluded that there was a little and insignificant raise of leptin at various stages of periodontal wound healing. Hence, it is not clear whether leptin aids in periodontal wound healing and maintains tissue integrity and homeostasis. At the same time, we cannot categorically deny the role of leptin in periodontal wound healing.