January 2022

Aim: Vegetarian diets are known to reduce inflammation. We investigated the cross-sectional association of gingival fluid inflammatory cytokines with periodontal status in vegetarians and non-vegetarians. Methods: A total of 54 systemically healthy subjects were enrolled. Dietary intake was assessed by a food frequency questionnaire. A comprehensive periodontal examination was performed. Gingival fluid was collected, samples were assessed for interleukin 1β(IL-1β), interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 8 (IL-8), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin 10 (IL-10). Results: Twenty-eight subjects were categorized as vegetarian and 26 non-vegetarians. Multivariate analyses adjusting for plaque (PI) and demographics showed that bleeding on probing (BOP) and pocket depth (PD) were the only two clinical measures associated with diet. Diet modified the association between PI and BOP (p<0.01), vegetarians showed lesser BOP levels than non-vegetarians. Independent of diet, BOP positively associated with IL-1β (P<0.05) and TNF-α (p<0.01). Diet also modified the association between PI and PD (p<0.05), vegetarians showed shallower PD than non-vegetarians. Vegetarians showed comparable IL-10 levels in both shallow and deep pockets. By contrast, non-vegetarians showed decreased IL-10 levels in deep pockets (p<0.01). IL-6 and IL-8 showed no associations with diet. Conclusions: Vegetarian diet may mitigate the gingival inflammatory response to microbial plaque and enhance the gingival anti-inflammatory activity.