Aggressive periodontitis and chronic arthritis: blood mononuclear cell gene expression and plasma protein levels of cytokines and cytokine inhibitors

Cytokines and cytokine inhibitors have been associated with many immunoinflammatory diseases. In the present study, we examined whether peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) gene expression mirrors the corresponding plasma levels of clinically important pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and cytokine receptors in patients with periodontitis and patients with arthritis representing two examples of chronic inflammatory diseases, such as periodontitis and arthritis. To identify possible disease-specific characteristics of subjects with periodontitis relative to subjects with chronic inflammation in general, patients with arthritis (juvenile idiopathic arthritis [JIA] and rheumatoid arthritis [RA]) were included.