Lymphocyte subpopulation in healthy and diseased gingival tissue.

In this study, infiltrating lymphocytes subpopulation in gingival sections of healthy, inflamed, and periodontitis lesions was investigated. A set of cluster of differentiation (CD) antigen specific monoclonal/polyclonal antibodies to detect different cell types within the tissues was used. These included anti-CD3 (pan T-cell), anti-CD45RO (memory T-cell), anti-CD20 (B-cell), and kappa light chain (plasma cells). Biopsies of gingival tissue were obtained from 17 patients who had clinically healthy gingiva, from 18 patients with gingivitis, and 17 patients with periodontitis.A significantly greater proportion of T-cells (P < 0.00) was observed in healthy gingival and gingivitis tissue samples compared to periodontitis tissue samples. In addition, a greater proportion of B-cells was observed in periodontitis lesions than in the gingival lesions (P < 0.00). The memory T-cells and the kappa light-chain plasma cells were present in both healthy and diseased tissues, suggestive of previous activation by periodontal pathogenic microorganisms.In conclusion, these differences in the relative proportions of B- and T-cells may reflect a difference in the immunopathology of periodontitis and gingivitis lesions.