Severe Impairment of Secretory Ig Production in Parotid Saliva of Down Syndrome Individuals

Abstract

Infections associated with Down Syndrome (DS) are prevalent in the mucosal-gastrointestinal and respiratory systems, for reasons that are uncertain. The purpose of the present study was to assess the levels of parotid salivary immunoglobulins (Ig) in a group of DS individuals as a possible factor in the susceptibility of mucosal surfaces to infections. Twenty-nine DS and 10 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals were included. Salivary flow rate and IgA, IgG, and IgM concentrations were recorded. The secretion rates of IgA and IgG were diminished by 83% (p < 0.001) and 75% (p = 0.05), respectively, whereas the secretion rate of IgM was not statistically significantly lower. Analysis of the data suggests that DS individuals are immunodeficient in the humoral mucosal immune response. This may explain, in part, the high incidence of recurrent infections in target organs of the secretory immune system in DS subjects.

The relation between salivary sIgA level and caries incidence in Down syndrome children

“…26 The immunodeficiency in Down syndrome children has caused the decreasing number of T cells, and if in immaturity condition, it can make the incidence of periodontal disease in those children increased, but not the incidence of dental caries. 1,5,14 It is because the components of immune system in oral cavity in periodontal disorders include neutrophils, antibodies, lymphocytes, macrophages, lymphokine, secretory immune system. However, the level of sIgA in periodontal disorders is not increased since unlike dental caries process, in periodontal disease sIgA is considered as the most responsible immune component.…”

“…1,14 Some researches even have found that high rate of infection in Down syndrome patients is caused by immune system disorders. 1,14 This can be shown by a defect in neutrophil chemotaxis of PMN leukocytes, antibody response damage against specific pathogens, decreasing number of T lymphocyte cells and immaturity of lymphocyte cells T.…”

“…Type of Trisomy 21 occurs when there is an extra chromosome on chromosome 21 it has 47 chromosomes. 9 Type of translocation occurs when there is a segment of chromosome 21 attaching to another chromosome (usually chromosome 14), but the number of chromosomes is still 46.…”

“…The composition of calcium, sodium, bicarbonate, pH and buffering capacity of saliva in Down syndrome children was higher than that in normal children, so it can inhibit demineralization. 8,14,18,19 The protective role of salivary sIgA in caries process Saliva plays a role in oral health by both maintaining integrity of soft and hard tissues as well as protecting soft tissues of oral bacterial infections, fungi and viruses. Saliva has a role to create a balance in oral cavity.…”

Patterns and variability in electrophoretic polypeptide profiles of human saliva in a healthy population

“…However, there are marked methodological differences between most of these sialochemical studies. These differences could be attributed to a wide diversity of procedures for quantitation, fractionation and detection of proteins (6,7,11,12,13,27), the lack of standard for saliva collection (1), analysis of different subtypes of saliva, low number of saliva donors specially when glandular salivas are studied (5,29) and analytical assessments of pools of salivas provided by different subjects (25). As a whole, these variations have resulted so far in a lack of recognizable basic protein profiles of human saliva that could be associated with normality.…”