Sex Differences in Inflammatory and Apoptotic Signaling Molecules In Normal and Diseased Human Gingiva

Background: The purpose of this study is to determine whether sex dimorphism exists in the expression of inflammatory and apoptotic mediators in gingiva obtained from normal and diseased sites of periodontal disease. Methods: Gingival papillae were obtained from individuals (56 males and 62 females) who required extraction of adjacent teeth. Gingival samples were grouped by adjacent sulcus depth: 1 to 3 mm (normal), 3 mm with bleeding on probing (slight disease), 3 to 6 mm (moderate disease), and >6 mm (severe disease). The tissue concentrations of cysteine‐requiring aspartate‐directed protease 3 (caspase‐3), interleukin‐2, tumor necrosis factor–related apoptosis‐inducing ligand, Fas ligand, p38α mitogen‐activated protein kinase, extracellular signal‐related kinase 1/2, and survivin were determined by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. These mediator concentrations, age of donor, sex of donor, and gingival sulcular depth were the outcome variables. Data were compared by factorial analysis of variance, post hoc Tukey, and Pearson correlation test. P