SUMMARYToll-like receptors (TLR) are signal molecules essential for the cellular response to bacterial cell wall components. Different functional effective polymorphisms for the TLR 4 gene (Asp299Gly; Thr399Ile) and for the TLR 2 gene (Arg677Trp, Arg753Gln) have recently been described that are associated with impaired lipopolysaccharide signal transduction. A total of 122 patients with chronic periodontal disease and 122 healthy unrelated controls were genotyped for the Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile polymorphism of the TLR 4 gene and the Arg677Trp and Arg753Gln mutation of the TLR 2 gene. The mutations were identified with polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. The prevalence of the Asp299Gly and the Thr399Ile mutant allele was 4·1% (10/244) and 4·5% (11/244) among periodontitis patients. For the healthy controls the prevalence was 3·3% (8/244) for the Asp299Gly ( P = 0·810) and 3·7% (9/244) for the Thr399Ile mutant allele ( P = 0·819). The Arg753Gln mutant allele was found in 2·9% (7/244) of the periodontitis subjects as compared to 4·1% (10/244) in the control group ( P = 0·622). The Arg677Trp mutant allele was not found in any of the study subjects. Unlike in ulcerative colitis there was not observed an association between chronic periodontitis and the various mutations of the TLR 2 and 4 gene.

Potential implications of antibody markers in Crohn's disease: Diagnostic markers, alone or in conjunction with other antibodies? Delineation of clinical phenotypes? Markers of disease behaviour? Markers of (genetic) susceptibility? Identification of genetically homogenous subgroups? Bridge between basic science and clinic? The exact role of serum antibodies in inflammatory bowel disease remains a matter of ongoing debate. Although a direct implication in the disease pathogenesis is unlikely, their diagnostic potential in cases of an undetermined colitis or in defining clinical phenotypes in Crohn's disease has been shown in several studies. Serum antibodies might also be helpful in predicting the disease behaviour and are thus valuable tools in the choice of medical or surgical therapy.

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