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Association between single point aMMP8 levels and previous periodontal disease progression – a long-term follow-up after 10 years in patients with stage III/IV periodontitis

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: To investigate the association of active matrix-metalloproteinase-8 (aMMP-8) levels in total oral fluid (TOF), gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) and periodontal disease progression in the last 10 years in a cohort of patients with stage III/IV periodontitis. METHODS: 47 patients receiving steps 1 and 2 of periodontal therapy with an observation period of over 10 years were included. Levels of current aMMP-8 in TOF, GCF and serum were determined at a single point at the ten-year follow-up. Past periodontal disease progression was characterized by clinical attachment loss over 10 years. For statistical analysis, linear regression models along with binary logistic regression models to analyze the progression rate based on age, gender, smoking, diabetes, full mouth bleeding score (FMBS), and T2 aMMP-8 levels were performed. RESULTS: At T2, the median patient age was 73 years [67; 79], with a mean attachment loss of 1.5 mm [1.0; 2.1] over the observation period. aMMP-8 levels did not differ between patients with mild and moderate disease progression. In multivariate linear regression, aMMP-8 levels were not associated with mean attachment loss. In contrast, sex, non-smoking status, and FMBS showed significant associations with past progression. Classification models for GCF and serum aMMP-8 expression yielded the highest accuracy (ROC = 0.80) for the binary assessment into mild and moderate progression, although this did not differ significantly from the model based on covariates alone (ROC = 0.75). CONCLUSION: Current aMMP-8 levels determined at a single point were not associated with past periodontal disease progression during a 10-year period. Clinical factors such as sex, non-smoking status, and FMBS showed a stronger association with past progression. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Biomarkers might improve the precision of periodontal diagnosis and monitoring; however, evidence is limited regarding their association with disease progression. Active-MMP-8 has gained increasing interest in recent years.

Source: Journal of Dentistry

DOI: 10.1016/j.jdent.2026.106526