Periodontitis Levels Research Articles

Measurement of serum and salivary antibodies to the oral pathogen Bacteroides asaccharolyticus in human subjects

Antibodies against a capsular antigen of Bact. asaccharolyticus were measured in the serum (IgG) and saliva (IgA) by an enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay, ELISA. Serum IgG levels, measurable at all ages in a group of 143 subjects, increased with advancing age. Similar levels of IgG were present in a group of 8 patients with adult, rapidly advancing periodontitis and in 3 patients with juvenile periodontitis (periodontosis). Antibody levels in periodontitis were not significantly different from those of age-matched normal subjects. Levels of salivary IgA against Bact. asaccharolyticus determined in healthy volunteers and in adult and juvenile periodontitis patients were not statistically different among the three groups. Despite the putative importance of Bact. asaccharolyticus as a periodontal pathogen, serum IgG and salivary IgA antibodies against a capsular antigen from this organism appear to exist in similar quantities in controls and periodontitis patients.