ArticleBMC oral health2021
Associations of early childhood caries with salivary beta defensin-3 and childhood anemia: a case-control study.
Article in BMC oral health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association Between Iron Deficiency Anemia and Dental Caries in Children: A Systematic Umbrella Meta-Analysis.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2025Pooled it
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- Article
- Oral health and quality of life in children with blood coagulation disorders and hemoglobinopathies. A cross-sectional study.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2025Article
- Sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with early childhood caries in Peruvian pre-schoolers.BMC oral health · 2025Observational
- Early childhood caries and their association with serum iron, serum ferritin, serum albumin, and Vitamin D.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2025Article
- Iron Deficiency Anemia and Dental Caries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Global pediatric health · 2024Article
- Association between serum biomarkers and oral health status in children with chronic kidney disease: A cross-sectional study.Clinical oral investigations · 2023Article
- Multiomics analysis reveals the genetic and metabolic characteristics associated with the low prevalence of dental caries.Journal of oral microbiology · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHuman beta defensin-3 (HβD-3) is an antimicrobial peptide present in saliva that protects tooth surfaces from microbial attack. These peptides are part of innate immunity so levels may be affected by different systemic diseases like anemia. Therefore, anemia may predispose an affected child to an increased risk of dental caries. The objectives of this study were to determine the association of early childhood caries (ECC) with HβD-3 levels and observe the association of HβD-3 levels with childhood anemia.
methodsA total of 80 children admitted in a pediatric medical ward, age 48-71 months, of either sex were included in the study. The included children were categorized as cases (children with ECC n = 40) and controls (children without ECC n = 40). Children were further segregated into the anemic and non-anemic sub-groups based on the hospital record of hemoglobin level. The salivary concentration of HβD-3 was measured by Enzyme-Linked Immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA). IBM SPSS version 20 software was used for statistical analysis. Two sample t-test and one-way ANOVA were used to compare mean values while spearman was used for correlations at p < 0.05.
resultsThe mean Salivary HβD-3 level in cases (8.87 ± 4.30) was significantly higher (p = 0.042) as compared to controls (7.23 ± 2.57). Salivary HβD-3 level in patients with caries and without anemia was highest (10.80 ± 4.50) whereas salivary HβD-3 level in the presence of caries and anemia was lowest (6.94 ± 3.13) amongst all groups. This difference was statistically significant (p = 0.001). Salivary HβD-3 level was found to be moderately correlated with cases (p = 0.002). An inverse correlation was found between salivary HβD-3 level and anemia (r = -0.479, p = 0.002).
conclusionAnemia may affect the innate immunity of children, and may result in a decreased level of salivary HβD3, thus increasing vulnerability to decay.
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