BACKGROUND: Saliva is a valuable, noninvasive diagnostic fluid that mirrors the body’s health, especially during physiological changes such as orthodontic tooth movement. The application of orthodontic force triggers an inflammatory response in the periodontal ligament, leading to the release of biomarkers like Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) and Transforming Growth Factor Beta 1 (TGF-β1), both crucial for bone remodeling and tissue repair. However, there are limited data on how salivary levels of these biomarkers change during different stages of fixed orthodontic treatment with NiTi archwires. The aim of the study was to determine the salivary levels of VEGF and TGF-β1 during each stage of the fixed orthodontic treatment using NiTi wires. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective observational study involved 11 patients requiring fixed orthodontic treatment with premolar extraction. Saliva samples were collected at four different time intervals: T0, Pretreatment; T1, 1 month after placement of 0.014/0.016 Round NiTi; T2, 1 month after placement of 0.017 × 0.025 Rectangular NiTi; and T3, 1 month after placement of 0.019 × 0.025 Rectangular NiTi. VEGF and TGF-β levels were analyzed using a high-sensitivity enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA. RESULTS: The mean VEGF concentration was 260.00 ± 188.42 pg/mL at T0, 144.32 ± 175.81 pg/Ml at T1, 228.95 ± 142.05 pg/Ml at T2, and 309.11 ± 285.43 pg/mL at T3. Although fluctuations in VEGF levels were observed over time, the difference was not statistically significant (F = 1.679, P = 0.215). The mean TGF-β1 concentration was 111.64 ± 58.99 pg/mL at T0, 99.29 ± 18.01 pg/mL at T1, 115.00 ± 87.90 pg/Ml at T2, and 92.93 ± 54.07 pg/mL at T3. Despite these variations across the time points, the difference was not statistically significant (F = 0.353, P = 0.659). CONCLUSION: Though the VEGF and TGF-β1 levels in saliva showed significant clinical changes, they did not show statistically significant variation across the different stages of orthodontic treatment. However, the findings of this study indicate that saliva can be used as an alternative to gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) for estimating the levels of TGF-β1, which addresses a significant gap in the literature. Future research with larger sample sizes and more diverse populations is required to fully establish the reliability and generalizability of salivary VEGF and TGF-β1 monitoring in orthodontic practice.
Catherine et al. (Sun,) studied this question.