DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2018.v06i02.032

Pages: 629-636

Tumor Necrosis Factor-a (TNF-alpha), a "major inflammatory cytokine" not only plays an important role in periodontal destruction, but also is extremely toxic to the host. Till date, there are not many studies comparing the levels of TNF-a in serum and its relationship with the smoking status. Our study aimed to assess the effect of smoking on serum values of Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha, and to compare the serum TNF alpha among the 2 study groups and establish a correlation between serum TNF alpha and smoking status. Hence, an attempt is made to estimate the level of TNF-alpha in serum, its relationship to smoking status in periodontally healthy individuals. 40 subjects participated in the study and were grouped into 2 groups Group A: 20 non smokers who were systemically and periodontally healthy subjects. Group B: 20 smokers who where systemically and periodontally healthy subjects. The serum samples were assayed for TNF-a level by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) method. The mean serum TNF-α Cytokines for group A (Non-smokers+ healthy) was 0.867±0.865, and for group B (smoker healthy) was 0.832±0.771.The range of serum TNF alpha was from (0.11 to 2.87). There was statistically no significant difference in Serum TNF-α Cytokines among Smokers & Non-Smokers Healthy subjects (P=0.892). These observations suggest that there does not exist any association between serum Tumor necrosis factor alpha and smoking status. Within the limitations of this study, it is clear that additional studies with a larger sample size would be needed to draw any final conclusions regarding the effect of smoking on serum TNF alpha. It can be concluded that there is a prospect of using the estimation of TNF-a in serum as a “marker” of periodontal disease in future. However It remains a possibility that the absence or low levels of TNF-a in serum might indicate a stable lesion and elevated levels might indicate an active site but only longitudinal studies taking into account