Serum antibodies in dental caries in man

Serum Complement-Fixing Antibodies in Human Dental Caries

“…Whilst it was noted in the present study that subjects showing a high antibody re sponse to one cell wall preparation did not necessarily show a similar re sponse to the other cell walls, antigenic cross-reactivity of the various preparations was not studied. The division of subjects into CFTC and AC groups in this investiga tion may explain the discrepancy between the results of Kennedy et al [1968] and Lehner et al [1970]. The former compared titres from a caries-free group with a rampant caries group, and found little difference between them.…”

“…Kennedy et al [1968] reported that serum-agglutinating antibodies to cell wall preparations of two streptococci which have been shown to be cariogenic in animals were higher in caries-free subjects than in those with rampant caries. Lehner et al [1970], however, found that hemagglutinating antibodies to two other cariogenic strains were raised in pa tients with a high number of decayed, missing or filled (DMF) teeth compared with those having a low DMF. Recently, serum and salivary antibodies to an enzyme preparation from a strain of Streptococcus mutans have been reported [Challacombe et al, 1972].…”

An ELISA for measuring serum antibodies to Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans

“…introduction Sera from most human adults contain antibodies reactive with a variety of microorganisms contained in supra-and subgingival dental plaques (Knox 1970, Lehner, Wilton & Ward 1970, Nisengard & Beutner 1970, Gilmour & Nisengard 1974. Some of these microorganisms including Actinomyces sp., Bacteroides sp., Eeptotrichia bucalis, Bacterionema matruchotii, Treponema sp., Fusobacterium sp.…”

“…and Eikenella corrodens have been implicated in experimental (Socransky, Hubersak & Propas 1970, Irving, Socransky & Heeley 1974, Gibbons et al 1966, Johnson et al 1978, or clinical (Socransky 1977) stages of periodontal disease. However, attempts to correlate antibody levels to these organisms with the severity or type of periodontal disease have been inconclusive (Gilmour & Nisengard 1974, Mashimo, Genco & Ellison 1976, Evans, Spaeth & Mergenhagen 1966, Nisengard & Beutner 1970, Steinberg & Gershoff 1968, Lehner et al 1970. Thus, the significance of serum derived antibodies in the pathogenesis or in protective aspects of periodontal disease remains to be elucidated.…”

“…Previous studies have utilized a variety of immunological techniques to determine level, specificity and isotype of serum antibodies in human and animal studies of periodontal disease. These studies include immunofluorescence (Marttala, Toto & Gargiulo 1974, Nisengard & Beutner 1970, Gilmour & Nisengard 1974, hemolysis reactions (Berglund 1971, Mergenhagen et al 1965, bactericidal reactions (Evans et al 1966), hemagglutination (Lehner et al 1970, Hofstad 1974, Steinberg et al 1966, Johnson et al 1978, bacterial agglutination , and immunoprecipitation (Mashimo et al 1976). Most of these analyses are relatively insensitive and include a level of subjectiveness in evaluation of the results.…”