Transcription factor STAT1 gene polymorphism is associated with the development of severe forms of periodontal disease.

Introduction: Periodontal disease (PD) is one of the most common inflammatory diseases, affecting about 10 % of the world population. The establishment of PD is influenced by polymorphisms in genes involved with the inflammatory response. Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription (STAT)-1 is a transcription factor that plays a key role in the intracellular signaling triggered by cytokines and, thus, its activation is critical in inflammatory diseases.

Aim And Methods: We aim to evaluate the occurrence of association between STAT-1 (rs3771300) polymorphism and distinct clinical forms and severity of PD; we genotyped 180 subjects using realtime PCR.

Results And Conclusion: We observed that the presence of the G allele for STAT-1 was associated with twice as high of a chance to develop aggressive periodontitis, and the most severe form of the disease.