Objectives: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder that may lead to alterations to the resistance of periodontal tissues to infections and thus influence the initiation, development and progression of inflammatory periodontal disease. Furthermore hyperlipidemia, especially in poorly controlled diabetic patients, may cause a dysregulation of the cellular immune response. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of hyperlipidemia on clinical measures of periodontal health and also its systemic effect in insuline dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) patients. Methods: 23 IDDM patients (n=23) with chronic periodontitis were given a thorough periodontal examination, including plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), periodontal probing depths (PPD) and clinical attachment levels (CAL). Peripheral blood studies included fasting blood glucose (FBG), levels of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), triglycerides (TG), cholesterol (CHL), low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and high-density lipoproteins (HDL). Flow cytometric analysis were performed by using antibodies to CD3, CD4, CD8, CD14, CD16, CD19, CD11a, CD11b, CD11c, CD54 and CD56. Results: Our results indicated that all clinical indices (PI, GI, PPD and CAL) were significantly correlated with each other as expected. Furthermore PPD and CAL had a significant correlation with CD11b+ cells. As triglycerides' level increased in peripheral blood, CD3+ and CD4+ cells were also increased. In addition increased HbA1c level was associated with increasing CD56+ cells. We did not find any association of HDL level with any of these parameters, but LDL level was correlated with CD11c+ cells. Conclusions: This study indicated that decreased metabolic control and increased serum triglycerides in IDDM patients resulted in a negative influence both on systemic health and on clinical measures of periodontal health.

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