Prevalence of interleukin-1 polymorphisms and its association with periodontal disease status in the Xhosa population of South Africa
Abstract
Periodontitis is a bacterially induced chronic inflammatory disease that destroys the supporting tissues of teeth. Clinical observations and experimental evidence indicates that there is a genetic influence of risk factors for periodontitis. A specific pattern of IL-1 polymorphisms (known as the composite IL-1 genotype) has been found to influence the severity of chronic periodontitis. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between the IL-1 gene polymorphisms and the severity of periodontal disease in a selected Xhosa ppopulation of South africa.