Salivary Tec and Nesprin-2 Levels in Post-orthodontic Patients

Introduction: Tyrosine-protein kinase protein (Tec) is known in activating calcium signalling, which is significant in bone remodelling, while nuclear envelope spectrin repeat (Nesprin) 2, is an outer nuclear membrane protein that provides cells with mechanosensory functions, including in osteocytes. Osteocytes, in turn, take role in promoting bone resorption.

Aim: To quantify the levels of salivary Tec protein and Nesprin-2 among control and post-orthodontic patients, using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Study Design: A quasi-experimental study.

Place and Duration of Study: Centre for Paediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics Studies, Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Sungai Buloh Campus, Sungai Buloh, Selangor, Malaysia, between September 2022 and September 2023.

Methodology: Collection of a 5 ml unstimulated whole saliva samples from each subject: 10 healthy individuals as the control group, and 10 post-orthodontic patients at the immediate debond stage. Concentrations of Tec protein and Nesprin-2 were determined using commercially available ELISA kits. An independent-sample t-test was conducted to compare the scores between the two groups.

Results: This study of 10 non-orthodontic and 10 post-orthodontically treated patients found significantly lower mean salivary Tec protein in the saliva of post orthodontic subjects compared to the healthy control group (P<0.05). Nesprin-2 level was slightly lower at immediate debond, but the difference was small without statistical significance. Female participants (60%) constituted the majority of the participants, aged between 18-33 years.

Conclusion: This study highlighted reduced activity of bone remodelling at the immediate debond stage, by decreased level of salivary Tec protein and Nesprin-2 at the immediate debond stage. These two proteins may be useful in orthodontic retention monitoring.

Clinical Significance: This study elucidated the potential to enhance comprehension of the relapse mechanism following orthodontic treatment by identifying and examining significant markers of Tec and Nesprin-2.