Aim: To investigate the medium-term associations of serum protein subfractions derived from proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1 H-NMR) spectroscopy with periodontitis and tooth loss.
Materials and methods: A total of 3031 participants of the cohort Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP-TREND) were included. In addition to conventional serum testing, serum lipoprotein contents and subfractions were analysed by 1 H-NMR spectroscopy. Confounder-adjusted associations of lipoprotein variables with periodontitis and the number of missing teeth variables were analysed using mixed-effects models with random intercepts for time across individuals, accounting for multiple testing.
Results: While only spurious associations between lipoprotein levels from conventional blood tests were found-that is, triglycerides were associated with mean clinical attachment level (CAL) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C/HDL-C) ratio with the number of missing teeth - several associations emerged from serum lipoprotein subfractions derived from 1 H-NMR analysis. Specifically, elevated LDL triglycerides were associated with higher levels of mean probing depth (PD), mean CALs, and increased odds of having <20 teeth. HDL-4 cholesterol levels were inversely associated with mean PD. Systemic inflammation (C-reactive protein) might mediate the effects of LDL and HDL triglyceride contents on periodontitis severity.
Conclusions: Several associations between serum lipoprotein subfractions and periodontitis were observed. As the underlying biochemical mechanisms remain unclear, further research is needed.
Keywords: cohort study; epidemiology; lipoprotein profile; periodontitis; tooth loss.
© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Clinical Periodontology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.