The recovery efficiency of various materials for sampling enzymes and polymorphonuclear leukocytes from gingival crevices
The aims of the present study were to assess the properties of durapore strips made of different materials on the recovery of GCF enzymes (experiment 1), and to examine the possible relationship between lysosomal enzyme activities and PMN counts using the same crevicular samples on durapore strips (experiment 2). In experiment 1, activities of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), B-glucuronidase (BG), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in GCF recovered from various types of strips were compared to those obtained when using GCF alone. GCF was collected along the upper anterior teeth from 14 patients with periodontal disease. A GCF sample was applied on a test strip in microcentifuge tube, or directly into the tube (control). Strips of durapore and papers were found to release more than 90% of ALP, BG, and AST from GCF in saline and can be considered as suitable for collection of GCF enzyme. More than 35% of ALP and BG remained on paper points after elusion with saline.
In experiment 2, 54 sites were selected from posterior teeth in three patients with periodontitis. This experiment examined the relationship between numbers of PMNs and BG activities recovered from the same durapore strips. A strong positive correlation was observed between PMN counts and BG activities with 0.847 (p < 0.001) of the Pearson's correlation coefficient. The results from both experiments suggest that durapore is a useful material for both counting and measuring activities of GCF enzymes. Increased BG activities in GCF can be due to increasing numbers of PMNs. [S.L.]
Nakashima, K., C. Demeurisse, and G. Cimasoni, J Clin Periodont, 21:479,1994