Periodontal disease is a chronic inflammatory disease that leads to destruction of the periodontium. The abnormal innate immune defense and outcome of periodontal disease is closely related. Cathelicidin is one of endogenous peptide, hCAP-18 and LL-37 is the only member of the cathelicidin family known to exist in human. The former is regarded as an inactive precursor, and the latter is the active mature form. In this review, we emphasize on the hCAP-18, the function of LL-37 and its relationship between periodontal disease.
