The CD14 -159C-to-T promoter polymorphism in periodontal disease.

Background: A single-nucleotide promoter polymorphism in the CD14 gene was associated with various inflammatory conditions. The present study sought to determine the frequency of the CD14 -159C-to-T polymorphism among subjects with periodontitis and healthy control individuals.

Methods: A total of 70 patients with periodontal disease and 75 healthy controls were genotyped for the CD14 -159C-to-T polymorphism. Genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. The allele frequencies and distribution of genotypes within both study groups were compared using Fisher's exact test at a level of significance of 5% (p<0.05).

Results: Overall, the frequency for the CD14 -159T allele in patients with periodontitis was 39.3% (55/140) and 48.0% (72/150) for the controls (p=0.135). The CD14 -159C allele was significantly more prevalent (p=0.013) among females with periodontitis (33.3%; 24/72) as compared with healthy control subjects (55.6%; 30/54). In contrast, the distribution of the CD14 -159C-to-T polymorphism showed no significant difference among males with and without periodontitis (p=0.816).

Conclusion: Herein, the C -159T promoter polymorphism of the CD14 gene was associated in female but not in male patients with periodontal disease.