Research Article Salivary Levels of IL-6 and IL-17 Could Be an Indicator of Disease Severity in Patients with Calculus Associated Chronic Periodontitis Husniah Batool, 1 Ahmed Nadeem, 2 Muhammad Kashif , 3 Faheem Shahzad , 2 Romeeza Tahir, 2 and Nadeem Afzal 2 1 Nishtar Dental College, Multan, Pakistan 2 Department of Immunology, University of Health Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan 3 Department of Oral Pathology, BAMDC, Multan, Pakistan Correspondence should be addressed to Nadeem Afzal; immunology@uhs.edu.pk Received 13 June 2017; Revised 24 August 2017; Accepted 23 January 2018; Published 18 February 2018 Academic Editor: Paul Ashwood Copyright © 2018 Husniah Batool et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background/Purpose. Chronic periodontitis is an infammatory disease of gums that causes loss of supporting structures of teeth, that is, gingiva, periodontal ligament, cementum, and alveolar bone. Levels of various cytokines in the serum, gingival tissues, and gingival crevicular fuid in patients with chronic periodontitis have been studied, but limited data are available on the level of cytokines in saliva. Terefore, a study was designed to determine levels of salivary IL-6 and IL-17 in patients with calculus associated chronic periodontitis. Materials and Methods. It was a comparative, cross-sectional study that is comprised of 41 healthy controls and 41 calculus associated chronic periodontitis patients (CP patients). According to the degree of attachment loss, CP patients were subcategorized as mild (CAL 1-2 mm), moderate (CAL 3-4 mm), and severe (CAL > 5 mm) forms of periodontitis. Salivary levels of IL-6 and IL-17 were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. Data was analyzed using SPSS 20.0. Results. Between healthy controls and CP patients (moderate and severe disease), a statistically signifcant diference was observed in the concentrations of IL-6 and IL-17. In CP patients, the highest mean ± SD of salivary IL-6 and IL-17 was observed in severe CP, followed by moderate and mild CP. Regarding level of IL-6, a statistically signifcant diference was observed between mild and severe disease and between moderate and severe subcategories of CP patients. Similarly, statistically signifcant diference was observed in the level of IL-17 between mild and moderate, mild and severe disease, and moderate and severe disease. Conclusion. Te levels of salivary IL-6 and IL-17 were increased signifcantly in calculus associated CP patients as compared to healthy controls and these levels increased with the progression of CP. Clinical Signifcance. Salivary levels of IL-6 and IL-17 may help in the subcategorization of CP. 1. Introduction Periodontal diseases are progressive and destructive infam- matory conditions that involve tooth supporting structures like gingiva, periodontal ligament, cementum, and alveolar bone. Tere are multiple risk factors for this disorder such as bacteria, host response, and genetic predisposition. It can manifest as localized or generalized, that is, involving single tooth or many teeth, respectively [1]. Chronic periodontitis (CP) leads to devastation of sup- porting structures of teeth, alveolar bone, periodontal liga- ment, pocket formation, gum recession, and eventually tooth loss. It can occur at any age but is more common in adults and is associated with dental plaque and calculus. Dental fllings, artifcial crown, and diseases like diabetes may lead to disease progression [2]. Dental plaque can be supragingival or subgingival and it contains proliferating microorganisms, epithelial cells, leukocytes, and macrophages [1]. Subgingival plaque extends into periodontal pocket and ofen contains Gram-negative organisms. Terefore, it is responsible for calculus formation, root caries, and slow progressive periodontal disease, while unattached plaque is responsible for periodontal destruction. Mineralization of dental plaque results in dental calculus [3]. Hindawi BioMed Research International Volume 2018, Article ID 8531961, 5 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/8531961