Investigation of the effect of periodontal treatment on the level of ubiquitin-proteazome pathway proteins in gingival tissues

Objective: In this thesis, it was aimed to determine the levels of ubiquitin-proteosome pathway (UPP) proteins in the gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) in healthy and diseased periodontal tissues and to examine the effect of periodontal treatment on these levels. Method: This study included 15 periodontally healthy individuals, 15 patients diagnosed with periodontitis, and 30 individuals in 3 groups in total, formed by the Phase-1 periodontal treatment of the same periodontitis patients. GCF samples were taken before the Phase-1 treatments of the patients. GCF samples were taken again from periodontitis patients who had regression in signs of inflammation 6 weeks after phase-1 treatment. The samples were analyzed by ELISA (Enzyme Linked Immunosorbant Assay) method. The levels of ubiquitin-proteosome pathway proteins Ub, E1, E2, E3, A20 and UCHL1 were examined in GCF samples in all groups. Results: When the age and gender were evaluated between the groups, there was no statistical difference. When probing pocket depth (PPD), gingival index (GI) and plaque index (PI) were evaluated, the healthy group was found to be significantly lower than the periodontitis group (p<0.05). When E1 and E3 levels were evaluated, no statistically significant difference was found between the groups. Ub levels were lower than the pre-treatment and post-treatment groups. E2 levels were lower in the healthy group than in the post-treatment group. A20 level was found to be lower in individuals with periodontitis than in healthy individuals. In addition, A20 level was found to be lower after periodontal treatment than before periodontal treatment. UCHL1 levels were lower in the healthy group than in the post-treatment group. Conclusion: In this study, it was observed that periodontal treatment was effective on the levels of UPP proteins in DOS and samples obtained from periodontitis and healthy individuals. However, UPP can be considered to have an important role in the pathogenesis of periodontitis, an inflammatory disease.