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Lactoferrin in the gingival crevice as a marker of polymorphonuclear leucocytes in periodontal diseases
Author(s) -
Adonogianaki E.,
Moughal N. A.,
Kinane D. R
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of clinical periodontology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.456
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1600-051X
pISSN - 0303-6979
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-051x.1993.tb01755.x
Subject(s) - gingivitis , lactoferrin , periodontitis , medicine , gastroenterology , immunology , dentistry , chemistry , biochemistry
This study examined lactoferrin (LF) levels in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) and set out to test the hypothesis that LF could act as a marker of crevicular polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN), Therefore, 2 experiments were conducted: (a) to quantify total LF (ng/30 s sample) in GCF; (b) to correlate LF levels (ng/μl) and PMN numbers (PMNs/μl) in gingival crevicular washings (GCW). GCF was collected from 71 sites in a total of 22 patients. These sites were classified on the basis of clinical indices of gingivitis (GI) and pocket depth (PD) into three clinical groups:‘healthy’, ‘gingivitis’ and ‘periodontitis’. GCWs were obtained from an additional 63 sites in 21 patients. LF in GCF and GCWs was assayed by a sandwich ELISA. Total leucocyte and differential counts were performed on the GCWs. GCF LF (ng/30 s) correlated positively with GI ( r =0.418, p <0.001), PD ( r =0.415, p <0.001) and GCF volume ( r =0.624, p <0.001). Gingivitis ( n =21) and periodontitis sites ( n =24) demonstrated significantly higher ( p <0.05) total GCF LF than healthy ( n =26) sites. In GCWs LF (ng/μl) showed stronger correlations with clinical indices (GI: r =0.452, PD: r =0.513, p <0.001) than did PMN numbers (PMNs/μl) (GI: r =0.279, PD: r =0.388, p <0.05). LF correlated strongly with PMNs in GCWs ( r =0.531, p <0.001) and provides a simple and effective marker of crevicular PMN numbers.