Salivary Levels of Human Neutrophil Peptide (HNP) ۱-۳ in Patients with Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis and Behçet’s Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study in Iran

Background:Recurrent oral ulcers constitute the most common complaint of patients with Behçet’s disease (BD) and recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS). Enhanced innate immune response and neutrophilic activity might be a possible etiopathogenesis of BD. This study aimed to determine the significance of salivary HNP ۱-۳ in BD and RAS patients and detect their correlation with different clinical presentations, disease activity, and characteristics of oral ulcers.Methods:This cross-sectional study included ۲۵ BD patients and ۲۵ RAS patients as well as ۲۵ healthy participants. ۵ cc of unstimulated saliva were collected and levels of HNP ۱-۳ were measured by ELISA. Other data were obtained through interviews, examination, and reviews of medical records. SPSS ۲۵.۰ was used to analyze the data.Results:Salivary HNP ۱-۳ levels were not significantly different between the study groups (P=۰.۲۸۲). Duration of oral ulcers did not correlate with HNP ۱-۳ levels in RAS and BD patients (P>۰.۰۵). Also, BD patients with involvements other than oral ulcers were not found to have different levels of HNP ۱-۳ comparing to those who did not manifest these conditions.Conclusions:The validity of HNP ۱-۳ to be used as a probable biological marker for evaluation, diagnosis, and estimation of disease activity in patients with BD and RAS is still questionable due to our results.

Keywords:

Saliva , Human neutrophil peptide , HNP ۱-۳ , Behçet’s disease , recurrent aphthous stomatitis