Clinical and biochemical markers of periodontal disease have been used for precise objective diagnosis of periodontal inflammation. Interleukin 1beta (IL-1beta) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), inflammatory factors, levels in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) of patients with periodontal disease are elevated and have been studied as biochemical markers. The levels of calprotectin, a leukocyte protein, in body fluids of patients with some inflammatory diseases are raised. Recently, we detected calprotectin in GCF and its concentrations in periodontal pockets were higher than those in healthy gingival crevices. In this study, we investigated the correlations between GCF calprotectin levels and clinical indicators (probing depth and bleeding on probing, BOP), and the IL-1beta or PGE2 levels in GCE Probing depth and BOP at 130 sites of 110 subjects with periodontal or other oral diseases were examined, then GCF samples were collected and their calprotectin, IL-1beta and PGE2 were determined by ELISA. The calprotectin level correlated positively with the probing depth and was significantly higher at BOP-positive than BOP-negative sites. There were significant, positive correlations between the calprotectin and IL-1beta or PGE2 concentrations. These results indicate that the calprotectin level in GCF correlates well with clinical and biochemical markers of periodontal disease and suggest that calprotectin may be useful for evaluating the extent of periodontal inflammation.

Leptin is an adipocyte-derived hormone that regulates a number of physiological functions, including energy homeostasis and immune function. In immune responses, leptin plays a role in the induction of inflammation. We investigated a role of leptin in Listeria monocytogenes infection using leptin receptor-deficient db/db mice and leptin-deficient ob/ob mice. These mutant mice were highly susceptible to L. monocytogenes, and the elimination of bacteria from the liver was inhibited. After infection, the induction of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and KC mRNA in the liver of db/db mice and the MCP-1 mRNA expression in the liver of ob/ob mice was decreased compared with their heterozygote littermates. Leptin replacement in ob/ob mice resulted in improvement of anti-listerial resistance and the MCP-1 mRNA expression. The elimination of L. monocytogenes was significantly enhanced, and the expression of MCP-1 and KC mRNA was completely reversed in db/db mice by insulin treatment. These results suggest that leptin is required for host resistance to L. monocytogenes infection and that hyperglycemia caused by leptin deficiency is involved in the inefficient elimination of bacteria from the liver. Moreover, defect of MCP-1 expression in the liver may be involved in the attenuated host resistance in these mutant mice. Diabetes 54:182-189, 2005 L eptin is a small peptide hormone secreted primarily by the adipocyte. Leptin-deficient ob/ob mice (1,2) and receptor-deficient db/db mice (3) were characterized initially as diabetes-obesity syndromes (4). Moreover, these animals exhibit a severe dysregulation of reproductive and hormonal traits (5) as well as a disturbance of hematopoietic and immune functions (6).Lord et al. (7) first reported that leptin increases Thelper (Th)1 cytokine production and suppresses Th2 cytokine production. Implication of leptin in inflammatory responses, including experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (8) and experimental arthritis (9), was demonstrated. On the other hand, a recent study showed that neutrophils express leptin receptors and that leptin enhances oxidative species production by neutrophils (10). Moreover, ob/ob mice exhibit impaired host resistance to intratracheal gram-negative Klebsiella pneumoiae infection due to impaired alveolar macrophage phagocytosis and neutrophil complement-mediated phagocytosis (11,12).Diabetes is often identified as an independent risk factor for infections (13,14). We were interested in investigating the role of leptin and its correlation to host resistance to Listeria monocytogenes infection. L. monocytogenes is an intracellular-growing bacterium that is ordinarily nonpathogenic to healthy people; however, it is important as an opportunistic pathogen. The individuals at highest risk are pregnant women and their fetuses, new born infants, debilitated elderly people, and immunocompromized hosts including patients with diabetes (15). Host resistance to L. monocytogenes is controlled by cell-mediated immunity and regulated endogenous cytokines....

Pancreatic endocrine and exocrine and salivary gland function were frequently impaired in patients with AIP, and steroid therapy was occasionally effective for these dysfunctions.

From the present results and our previous findings, it is shown that the GCF calprotectin level significantly correlates not only with clinical indicators but also with current biochemical marker levels and that calprotectin may be a useful marker for periodontal inflammation.