a comparative study of α-defensin 3 and cathepsin g concentrations in the saliva of children with early childhood caries and caries-free children

Background: the importance of saliva in preventing caries has been well established. saliva contains several antimicrobial proteins. objectives: the present study aims to compare the concentrations of α-defensin 3 and cathepsin g in the saliva of children with early childhood caries (ecc) and those who are caries-free (cf). methods: this case-control study was conducted on 80 children aged 3 to 6 years, referred to the pediatric dentistry department of shahid beheshti university of medical sciences, tehran, iran, between april 2018 and december 2018. the participants were divided into two groups: the ecc (n = 40) and cf (n = 40). after collecting saliva samples, the levels of α-defensin 3 and cathepsin g were measured using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) method. the data were analyzed with spss-21 software using an independent t-test and chi-square test. results: the mean concentrations of α-defensin 3 and cathepsin g in the ecc group were 92.88 pg/ml and 139.40 pg/ml, respectively, and 64.68 pg/ml and 65.30 pg/ml in the cf group. initial unadjusted analysis revealed that both markers had a statistically significant difference (p < 0.001). according to the results of the multiple logistic regression model, after adjusting for underlying variables [parents’ education, gender, age, plaque index (pi), and type of nighttime feeding], cathepsin g (p = 0.022), father’s education (p = 0.033), and pi (p = 0.018) showed statistically significant differences between the two groups. also, α-defensin 3 concentration showed no statistically significant difference between the two groups after adjustments (p = 0.058). conclusions: the results showed that while the levels of cathepsin g and α-defensin 3 in the saliva of preschool children with ecc were increased, only cathepsin g remained statistically significant after adjustments.