Immunological studies of young adults with severe periodontitis

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Abstract
Cellular responses of young adults with severe periodontitis (SP) were compared to the cellular responses of young adults with a healthy periodontium (HP). Analyses included T‐cell and B‐cell levels, blast transformation, production of leukocyte inhibitory factor (LIF), and phagocytosis and killing by peripheral polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN's). The levels of T‐ and B‐cells were virtually identical in the HP and SP groups. In blastogenesis assays SP subjects tended to respond to bacterial extracts more frequently than did HP subjects although the differences in frequency were not statistically significant for any single stimulant. The average of the blastogenic response for the SP responders did not differ from the magnitude of the response for the HP responders for any stimulant. However, female SP responders tended to respond higher to the bacterial extracts than did the female HP responders. Conversely, the male SP responders tended to respond lower than the male HP responders. Responses to PHA did not differ between groups. However, thymidine uptake in unstimulated control cultures from the SP subjects was significantly lower than the average background in cultures from HP subjects. The difference held for both males and females. Production of LIF, assessed after stimulation by bacterial extracts, did not differentiate between the SP and HP groups, nor did phagocytosis or killing of Streptococcus sanguis by PMN's.