statistically significant differences among the four groups
by one-way ANOVA. However, the levels differed only
slightly between gingivitis and moderate periodontitis.
To confirm the differences described above, P values were
adjusted by the Bonferroni multiple comparison post-hoc
test. After adjustment, the differences remained significant
for LDH (control vs. severe periodontitis; P < 0.01,
moderate periodontitis vs. severe periodontitis; P = 0.01)
and for f-Hb (severe periodontitis vs. control; P < 0.01,
severe periodontitis vs. gingivitis; P = 0.05, severe
periodontitis vs. moderate periodontitis: P < 0.01). When
the salivary levels of these enzymes were compared
according to smoking status, no statistically significant
differences were observed (data not shown).
Among the LDH isoenzymes, LDH4 and LDH5 were
dominant. As shown in Table 1, even though the differences
between the groups were not statistically significant for
all the isoenzymes, dose response tendencies were observed
for LDH2 and LDH5 according to the severity of
periodontal disease.