Journal of Research in Dental and Maxillofacial Sciences

en Exploring Lactate Dehydrogenase as a Biomarker for Early Detection and Monitoring of Oral Submucous Fibrosis: A Preliminary Study Oral medicine Oral medicine Original article Original article <div style="text-align: justify;">Background and Aim: This study compared the serum and salivary lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels in patients with oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) and healthy controls, and assessed their potential as biomarkers for OSMF diagnosis, and monitoring its progression.    Materials and Methods: This case-control study involved 50 OSMF patients and 50 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Serum and salivary LDH levels were measured using standard laboratory techniques. Clinical staging of OSMF was performed based on the severity of symptoms, and the relationship between LDH levels and disease stage was analyzed using statistical methods. Descriptive and inferential statistics including t-test, ANOVA, and correlation coefficients based on data distribution were used to assess the association between LDH levels and OSMF clinical features (alpha=0.05).    Results: OSMF patients showed significantly higher serum LDH levels (225.4±58.2 U/L) than healthy controls (187.6±42.4 U/L; P=0.0004). They also showed significantly higher salivary LDH levels (180.3±53.1 U/L) compared to controls (148.2±37.9 U/L; P=0.0006). A strong positive correlation was found between serum LDH levels and clinical stage of OSMF (r=0.65, P<0.001), while a moderate inverse correlation was observed between salivary LDH levels and mouth opening (r=-0.48, P<0.001). Conclusion: Both serum and salivary LDH levels were significantly elevated in patients with OSMF compared to healthy controls. Salivary LDH, in particular, demonstrated a strong association with clinical severity and disease stage, supporting its potential as an effective, non-invasive biomarker for OSMF diagnosis, and monitoring its progression.  </div> Biomarkers, L-Lactate Dehydrogenase, Oral Submucous Fibrosis, Saliva 126 135 http://jrdms.dentaliau.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1760-2&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Santosh R Patil drpsantosh@gmail.com 100319475328460016921 100319475328460016921 No Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Chhattisgarh Dental College and Research Institute, Chhattisgarh, India Shikhar Daniel shikhardaniel555@gmail.com 100319475328460016922 100319475328460016922 Yes Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Saveetha University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India Vishnu Priya Veeraraghavan drvishnupriyav@gmail.com 100319475328460016923 100319475328460016923 No Centre of Molecular Medicine and Diagnostics, Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Saveetha University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India Nagarathna Padmashali Jayappa drsiddhy4u@gmail.com 100319475328460016924 100319475328460016924 No Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Chhattisgarh Dental College and Research Institute, Chhattisgarh Ravikanth Manyam ravikanth.m@vdc.edu.in 100319475328460016925 100319475328460016925 No Department of Oral Pathology, Vishnu Dental College, Bhimavaram Krishna A Rao drkrish283@gmail.com 100319475328460016926 100319475328460016926 No Department of Oral Pathology JSS Dental College & Hospital, Mysuru