Objectives: This study investigated the potential of testing for active matrix metalloproteinase-8 (aMMP-8) by a quantitative point-of-care (PoC), chairside, lateral flow immunotest as a biomarker for the presence or absence of peri-implant diseases.
Materials and methods: Eighty healthy patients with implants were recruited. The samples were collected from peri-implant sulcular fluid and quantitatively analyzed for aMMP-8. Clinical indices, which included probing depth, clinical attachment loss, bleeding on probing, and plaque, were recorded and radiographic assessments were performed.
Statistical analysis: Comparisons of aMMP-8 levels and clinical parameters were analyzed by the Kruskal-Wallis test and the pairwise post hoc Dunn-Bonferroni test. A receiver operating curve analysis was used to analyze the diagnostic ability of aMMP-8 and the correlation between aMMP-8 and probing depth of the sampled site was sought by Spearman's rho and the coefficient of determination (R 2).
Results: Statistical analysis revealed statistically significant differences of aMMP-8 levels between the healthy and the mucositis and peri-implantitis groups, and between the mucositis and the peri-implantitis groups. Increasing probing depths of the sampled site and aMMP-8 levels were significantly correlated.
Conclusions: These data suggest that the aMMP-8 PoC test can be a beneficial adjunctive tool for early identification and screening of the risk of peri-implant diseases and progression.
The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).