Introduction: While sharing a common causal link, both rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and periodontitis (PD) manifest similar inflammatory responses. With the progression of severity, both diseases result in bone loss. Hence, Ca and Zn, as structural components of the bones, are expected to be altered in saliva and serum in PD and RA respectively. Zinc and calcium concentrations have been studied previously in patients with PD or RA, with PD patients exhibiting increased salivary Ca and decreased Zn concentrations in serum, while RA patients have been reported to express low plasma concentrations of both Zn and Ca. The aim of this study is to evaluate the saliva and serum levels of Ca and Zn in PD patients with or without RA. Methods: Serum and saliva samples were collected from 82 patients from the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya and the University Malaya Medical Centre rheumatoid clinic. Patients were grouped according to their periodontal health and RA status (healthy n=21; PD n=21; RA n=21; RAPD n=19). Results: Zinc concentration in serum was significantly higher (p
Introduction:PTGS2 and DEFB1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) have been validated to be associated with chronic periodontitis (CP) in European, Japanese and Chinese populations. Polymorphisms of these genes play a role in the pathogenesis of CP. Thus far, no study has been done on the Malay ethnic group. Hence, this study assessed the allele and genotype frequencies of PTGS2 and DEFB1 variants in subjects with chronic periodontitis and healthy individuals in Malaysian Malays. Methods: Malay CP subjects and periodontally-healthy controls were obtained from Malaysian Periodontal Database and Biobanking system (MPDBS) for this case-control study. Diagnosis for cas-es was based on case definition by Eke et al (2012). DNA samples were genotyped for 4 candidate SNPs, rs689466, rs5275, rs20417 (PTGS2) and rs1047031 (DEFB1). Genotyping was carried out using Taqman genotyping method. The association between SNPs and study groups were assessed using logistic regression analysis. Results: DNA sam-ples from 140 individuals, 76 CP cases and 64 healthy controls were genotyped. Logistic regression results demon-strated that rs689466 for PTGS2 gene was associated with CP susceptibility in the Malay study group (p=0.03; OR: 1.80; 95% CI=1.05-3.07). The dominant and additive model test showed significant association with rs689466 (C/T) (pdominant-adjusted=0.02; OR: 2.22; 95% CI=1.11-4.43;padditive-adjusted=0.03; OR:1.85; 95% CI=1.07-3.19) after controlling for age and smoking. However, no significant association with CP was observed with other SNPs. Conclusion: The results suggest that rs689466 of PTGS2 gene may contribute to CP susceptibility in Malaysian Malay population in our preliminary study.