EVALUATION OF SALIVARY HEPATOCYTE GROWTH FACTOR LEVELS IN CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS PATIENTS BEFORE AND AFTER NON-SURGICAL PERIODONTAL TREATMENT
Hepatocyte Growth Factor (HGF) or Scatter Factor (SF) is a growth factor which restrains the reconstruction of profound periodontal tissues. The study estimated the salivary HGF levels in unstimulated whole saliva in chronic periodontitis patients prior to treatment and also at 2nd and 6th week after non-surgical periodontal treatment and also aimed to determine the relationship of salivary HGF levels with the clinical periodontal parameters. This was a prospective-analytical study which included 45 subjects with chronic periodontitis. The highest mean concentration of HGF was obtained at the baseline and the lowest mean HGF concentration was obtained at the 6th week. There was significant decrease in the salivary HGF levels among the patients subsequent to scaling and root planing. Moreover the salivary HGF levels indicated a positive correlation with the clinical parameters at the sixth week. The above results propose that salivary HGF levels could be utilized as a biomarker for checking the response to periodontal treatment in chronic periodontitis patients.