Romanian Biotechnological Letters Vol. 21, No. x, 2017 Copyright © 2017 University of Bucharest Printed in Romania. All rights reserved ORIGINAL PAPER Received for publication, May 25 2015 Accepted, July 28 2016 FIRST REPORT IN ROMANIA REGARDING SALIVARY IODINE LEVEL AND ITS CORRELATION WITH CARIOUS LESIONS, CHRONIC MARGINAL PERIODONTITIS AND PERIAPICAL PATHOLOGY Ioana Suciu 1 , Ecaterina Ionescu 1 , Ileana Suciu 1 , Mihaela Chirila 1 , Irina Gheorghe 3 , Marcela Popa 3 , Anca Dumitriu 1 , Horia Ursu 2 1 University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Carol Davila", Faculty of Dental Medicine, Bucharest 2 National Institute of Endocrinology "C.I. Parhon", Thyroid Unit 1 3 University of Bucharest, Faculty of Biology, Research Institute of the University of Bucharest-ICUB, Life, Environment and Earth Sciences, Bucharest, Romania. Corresponding author: Ioana Suciu, email: joa_suciu@yahoo.com; phone: 0722.593.808 ABSTRACT Since the beginning of administration of iodine to prevent iodine deficiency, children have less dental cavities; iodine seems to increase the resistance to dental caries, retarding the process and reducing its incidence (in Romania the law regarding universal salt iodization was implemented in January 2003). Given its antioxidant properties, iodide may act as an antimicrobial agent in saliva. In our studied groups (group I, II, III) we found a statistically significant difference between the smokers and non- smokers on each of the above mentioned group. Our results confirm previous studies, showing that smoking had an increasing effect on the concentration of salivary thyocianate and a decreasing effect on the content of iodide in saliva. Key words: salivary iodine, thiocyanate, smoking, periodontal disease, periapical pathology, carious lesions INTRODUCTION Dental caries continue to be the most prevalent chronic disease to affect human population [1]. On the other hand, iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) is arguably the world’s most common endocrine disease [2]. Interestingly, since the beginning of administration of iodine to prevent goiter induced by iodine deficiency, children have less dental caries, iodine seems to increase the resistance to dental caries, retarding the process and reducing its incidence (3). The thyroid gland is unique among the endocrine glands for its dependence on an essential micronutrient (iodine) for normal thyroid hormone production. In Romania, the law regarding Universal Salt Iodization was implemented in January 2003, as the main strategy for eliminating iodine deficiency. The natrium iodide symporter (NIS) (the iodide pump) is the plasma membrane glycoprotein that mediates active iodide transport in the thyroid and other tissues, including salivary glands [4]. Human NIS is a 643 amino acid protein and contains 643 transmembrane domains. The molecular characterization of natrium iodide symporter (NIS) began in 1996, when Nancy Carrasco’s group isola ted the cDNA encoding rat NIS [5]. Although there are similarities between the salivary and thyroid iodine concentrating mechanism (both mechanisms are inhibited by some anions like thiocyanate and perchlorate via competitive inhibition), there are also important differences. The physiological role of iodide secretion in the saliva is a matter of debate [4]. Given to its antioxidant properties, iodide may act as an antimicrobial agent in saliva. A bactericidal/