5 Key Takeaways

• 1

  A salivary cytokine signature can distinguish carious lesions from healthy states, but has limited ability to differentiate from gingival inflammation.

• 2

  The study analyzed 65 patients aged 18 to 30 years with carious lesions, gingival inflammation, or healthy conditions using a multiplex assay.

• 3

  TNF-alpha was the strongest discriminator of carious lesions from healthy controls, while IL-6 was elevated in patients with carious lesions.

• 4

  The combination of IL-17 and TNF-alpha showed the highest discrimination for carious lesions, but modestly distinguished them from gingival inflammation.

• 5

  The study's findings are limited by a small sample size, narrow age range, and cross-sectional design, necessitating further validation.