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Outer membranous vesicles and leukotoxic activity of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans from subjects with different periodontal status
Author(s) -
TERVAHARTIALA BARBARA,
UITTO VELIJUKKA,
KARI KIRSTI,
LAAKSO TUULA
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
european journal of oral sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.802
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1600-0722
pISSN - 0909-8836
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0722.1989.tb01428.x
Subject(s) - actinobacillus , vesicle , connective tissue , elastase , microbiology and biotechnology , periodontitis , chemistry , bacteria , dental plaque , lipopolysaccharide , biology , immunology , medicine , pathology , enzyme , biochemistry , membrane , genetics
– Strains of A. actinomycetemcomitans (A.a) from juvenile periodontitis patients (JP), adult periodontitis patients (AP), and 14‐yr‐old healthy children were tested for the correlation between leukotoxin activity and the number of outer membranous vesicles measured in electron micrographs. To determine the potential for connective tissue destruction following the interaction of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) with the bacteria, the lysosomal release of neutro‐phil elastase was assessed. The highest potential to kill leukocytes and to release lysosomal elastase from them was observed in the strains isolated from JP patients. No correlation existed between leukotoxic activity and the number of outer membranous vesicles per bacterium when the data from A.a. strains from all sources were combined. Furthermore, no significant differences were found between the numbers of outer membranous vesicles in the three groups tested. The only significant correlation between the number of vesicles and leukotoxicity was found in the A.a. strains derived from the mouths of healthy children.