Recombinant secreted frizzled-related protein 5 (sFRP5) improved periodontal status in mice. Thus, this study aimed to investigate this finding in human periodontitis using an epidemiological approach.
sFRP5 and wnt5a concentrations were determined in human serum from the Food Chain Plus cohort using ELISAs. A total of 128 patients with periodontitis and tooth loss and 245 patients with periodontitis without tooth loss were compared to 373 sex-, smoker-, age- and BMI-matched individuals in a nested case-control design.
Systemic sFRP5 serum levels were significantly lower in patients with periodontitis and tooth loss (2.5 [0.0-10.4] ng/ml, median [IQR]) compared to patients with periodontitis without tooth loss (6.0 [2.5-15.8] ng/ml, median [IQR], p = 0.04] and matched controls (7.0 [2.5-18.3] ng/ml, median [IQR], p = 0.02). No significant differences in sFRP5 serum levels were found among patients with periodontitis without tooth loss (6.0 [2.5-15.8] ng/ml, median [IQR]) and controls (3.1 [0.0-10.6] ng/ml, median [IQR], p = 0.06).
sFRP5 might serve as a novel biomarker for periodontitis severity. Modulating the inflammatory background of severe forms of periodontitis, in the time of precision medicine, needs to be revealed in further studies.