The Influence of<i>TLR4</i>,<i>CD14</i>,<i>OPG</i>, and<i>RANKL</i>Polymorphisms in Periodontitis: A Case-Control Study

Abstract

The pathogenesis of periodontitis involves a complex interaction between the microbial challenge and the host immune response. The individual immunoinflammatory response has a great contribution in the pathogenesis of the disease and becomes a trigger in the process of bone remodeling which is a characteristic of the disease. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of the <i>TLR4</i> A896G (rs4986790), <i>TLR4</i> C1196T (rs4986791), <i>CD14</i> C-260T (rs2569190), <i>RANKL</i> (<i>TNFSF11</i>, rs2277438), and <i>OPG</i> (<i>TNFSF11B</i> C163T, rs3102735) polymorphisms in periodontitis. A case-control study was conducted on patients with periodontitis (<i>N</i> = 203) and controls (<i>N</i> = 213) over 30 years of age, without diabetes mellitus, acute infections, and osteoarthritis, and patients without aggressive periodontitis, i.e., stage IV and C degree of periodontitis, and any periodontal treatment performed in the last 6 months. Genotypes were determined by the PCR-RFLP and sequencing method. The frequency comparisons between case and controls were performed using the chi-square test and logistic regression (OpenEpi and SNPStats software). The risk (OR) was evaluated for values of <i>P</i> < 0.05. Differences in <i>TLR4</i>, <i>CD14</i>, <i>RANKL</i>, and <i>OPG</i> genotype and allele frequency distributions were not observed between patients and controls. However, some variants were a risk factor for the development of periodontitis when considering gender and smoking habits. The <i>TLR4</i> 896 A/G genotype was a risk factor for periodontitis in males (OR = 2.86), and the <i>TLR4</i> 1196C/C genotype was a risk factor for nonsmoking males (OR = 1.85) when compared to women. The <i>RANKL</i> A/A and the <i>OPG</i> T/C genotype was associated with the risk of the disease in nonsmoking men compared to nonsmoking women with the same genotype (OR = 1.96 and OR = 2.9, respectively). In conclusion, <i>TLR4</i>, <i>CD14</i>, <i>RANKL</i>, and <i>OPG</i> variants were not associated with periodontitis. However, <i>TLR4</i>, <i>RANKL</i>, and <i>OPG</i> polymorphisms could be a risk for periodontitis in males regardless of smoking habits.