Exploring Potential Correlations Between Oxidative Stress Markers and Inflammatory Pivotal Factors in Children with Hematological Malignancies

Background: Hematological malignancies are associated to immune status alterations and an amplified systemic and local immune response, which can have a significant impact on oral health, especially concerning gingival and periodontal status. Along with cytokines, which play an important role in regulating local and systemic inflammation, oxidative stress factors also reflect a critical involvement in the evolution of periodontal alterations, especially in association to systemic conditions such as leukemia.

This study aims to investigate certain inflammatory markers (such as IL-1β, IL-6, IL-17α and TGF-β) as well as oxidative stress factors (SOD, MDA, 8-OHdG), in order to identify any correlations between the two, in a comparative manner, in children with leukemia and individuals without this malignant disease.

Methodology: The study evaluated inflammatory markers and oxidative stress factors both in plasma and gingival crevicular fluid of 97 children (47 in the study group, suffering from leukemia and 50 in the control group, without the oncological condition or any other inflammatory systemic disease).

Results: In plasma, MDA seems to be the most powerful association, rising along with increased plasmatic values of IL-1β, IL-17α and TGF-β. In GCF, SOD and 8-OHdG associate with inflammatory indicators, suggesting a complex synergy between cytokine expression and oxidative stress mechanisms.

Conclusions: Our analysis showed significant associations between the evaluated inflammatory markers and oxidative stress factors, both in plasma and gingival crevicular fluid. These observations might underline a potential role of certain biomarkers to act out as indicators of a complex interconnection between inflammatory status and oxidative stress.