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The Influence of Genetic Variation on the Splenic T Cell Cytokine and Specific Serum Antibody Responses to Porphyromonas gingivalis in Mice
Author(s) -
Gemmell Erica,
Winning Tracey A.,
Grieco Dorothy A.,
Bird Philip S.,
Seymour Gregory J.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of periodontology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.036
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1943-3670
pISSN - 0022-3492
DOI - 10.1902/jop.2000.71.7.1130
Subject(s) - porphyromonas gingivalis , adjuvant , antibody , cytokine , balb/c , immunology , spleen , antigen , immunization , medicine , biology , immune system , periodontitis
Background: T cell cytokine profiles in the spleens and anti‐ Porphyromonas gingivalis antibodies in the sera of P. gingivalis ‐immunized BALB/c (H‐2 d ), CBA/CaH (H‐2 k ), C57BL6 (H‐2 b ), and DBA/2J (H‐2 d , C5 deficient) mice were examined. Methods: Mice were immunized either by intraperitoneal injections of P. gingivalis outer membrane antigens and Freund's incomplete adjuvant weekly for 3 weeks or sham‐immunized with PBS and adjuvant, followed by subcutaneous challenge with live organisms 1 week after the final immunization. Spleens were excised and blood samples collected by heart puncture at 0 and 7 days after challenge. Splenic CD4 and CD8 cells were stained for intracytoplasmic interleukin (IL)‐4, interferon (IF)‐gamma, and IL‐10 and levels of anti‐ P. gingivalis antibodies in the serum samples determined by ELISA. Results: Lesion sizes in immunized BALB/c mice remained stable for the 7‐day experimental period. Immunized CBA/CaH and C57BL6 mice exhibited large lesions at day 1 reducing by day 7 particularly in the latter strain. Lesions in immunized DBA/2J mice were still larger than the other strains at day 7. With the exception of DBA/2J mice, sham‐immunized mice demonstrated lesions which did not show signs of healing by day 7. T cell cytokine responses in sham‐immunized mice at day 0 were low, increasing to a variable degree by day 7 after challenge in the 4 strains. Immunized BALB/c mice demonstrated intermediate T cell responses while generally exhibiting a stronger IFN‐gamma response than IL‐4 or IL‐10. Immunized CBA/CaH and C57BL6 mice showed weak T cell cytokine responses while immunized DBA/2J displayed the strongest T cell responses particularly in regard to IL‐4 positive cells. Sham‐immunized mice had low levels of serum anti‐ P. gingivalis antibody levels at day 0 with levels increasing significantly by day 7 after challenge. Antibody levels in immunized mice seemed to correlate with lesion sizes. Immunized C57BL6 mice had the highest antibody levels followed by CBA/CaH, BALB/c with DBA/2J exhibiting low levels. The T cell and B cell antibody responses in each strain appeared to exhibit an inverse relationship. Conclusions: This study has shown that genetic differences at the level of H‐2 haplotype induce variations in the local and T and B cell responses to P. gingivalis antigens. The responses of DBA/2J mice which have the same haplotype as BALB/c mice suggest that factors other than H‐2 haplotype such as the C5 deficiency may influence this immune response. The significance of the specific antibody and T cell responses and of their inverse relationship to susceptibility to periodontal disease remains to be determined. J Periodontol 2000;71:1130‐1138.