Effect of periodontal treatments on serum IgG antibody titers against periodontopathic bacteria
Serum IgG antibody titers to seven periodontopathic bacteria in periodontitis patients were measured at the first visit, and after various periodontal treatments with clinically successful improvement, in order to evaluate what kind of factors are associated with changes of serum antibody titers. Twenty patients diagnosed with rapidly progressive periodontitis were enrolled in the study. All received initial preparation and, most of them, surgical treatment. Serum samples were collected from patients at the initial and final examinations. Serum IgG antibody titers against sonicated agents of Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Prevotella loescheii, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Eikenella corrodens, and Capnocytophaga ochracea were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
The mean antibody titers to P. gingivalis and P. intermedia decreased significantly after treatment as compared to their pretreatment levels. A significant relationship was found between the decreased antibody titers to P. gingivalis and number of teeth which received periodontal surgery and P. intermedia and number of extracted teeth. The results suggest that the changes of serum IgG titers against P. gingivalis and P. intermedia are related to suppression of these pathogens in subgingival plaque. [E.L.H.]
Horibe, M., H. Watanabe, and I. Ishikawa, J Clin Periodont, 22:510,1995