Clinical Response Characteristics of Salivary Proteins in the Management Strategy of Diabetes-Associated Periodontitis

Diabetes and periodontitis, as widespread chronic diseases,
often
exacerbate each other’s conditions. Nonsurgical periodontal
treatments can improve the oral and systemic health in these patients,
with salivary proteins offering potential insights into disease mechanisms
and treatment effectiveness. However, there is a lack of comprehensive
data on salivary proteomics in this context. By assigning patients
with diabetes-associated periodontitis to a test group (supragingival
scaling, subgingival scraping and root planing) or a control group
(supragingival scaling only), analyzing nonstimulated whole saliva
samples using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and
establishing the in vivo and in vitro models, we found significant
differential expression of salivary proteins related to Apelin signaling
pathway, hematopoietic cell profiling, stress response and immune
regulation, identifying four candidate proteins: superoxide dismutase
1 (SOD1), profilin 1 (PFN1), S100 calcium-binding protein A11 (S100A11)
and kallikrein-related peptidase 6 (KLK6). All four proteins were
significantly elevated, with a combined area under the curve of 0.933,
while SOD1 alone reached 0.915. Additionally, we observed high glucose
and inflammatory conditions reduced SOD1 expression. In conclusion,
SOD1 emerges as a promising regulatory target for managing diabetes
and periodontitis by modulating the oral oxidative stress microenvironment.