Improvement in Periodontal Health and Antibody Response to Heat-Shock Proteins

Abstract

There is evidence that periodontal disease may be associated with atherosclerosis due to cross-reactivity of bacterial GroEL immunity with human heat shock protein 60 (hHSP60). Objective: To examine changes in serum antibody responses to Porphyromonas gingivalis, hHSP60, and P. gingivalis GroEL following improvement in periodontal health in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and in patients with high cardiovascular (CV) risk and low CV risk. Methods: Patients were selected from two large longitudinal studies and had undergone yearly periodontal examinations and peripheral blood collections. CVD patients (n=15) selected from one study had experienced a significant CV event while patients derived from the other study had not experienced a CV event. These latter patients were further classified according to CV risk (≥6 classical risk factors=high CV risk n=13; ≤1 classical risk factor=low CV risk n=14). Patients demonstrating a quantifiable improvement in periodontal health (≥62% reduction in number of sites with probing depth≥4mm) from the baseline visit were selected. Serum IgG antibody levels to P.gingivalis, hHSP60, and P.gingivalis GroEL were measured using ELISA. Results: Median reductions, after improvement in periodontal health, in antibody levels to P.gingivalis GroEL differed significantly across the three groups (Kruskal-Wallis