Juvenile periodontitis. I. Demonstration of local immunoglobulin synthesis.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the presence and quantity of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and albumin (ALB) in specified periodontal tissues and serum from patients diagnosed as having juvenile periodontitis (JP), using an immunoelectrophoresis technique and to determine which portion of the lesion generated the greatest local immunoglobulin production. Serum and tissue samples were obtained from 19 patients (ages 13-21 years) who were diagnosed as having JP; 18 were female; 16 were black. Normal, diseased, and granulomatous gingival/periodontal tissues were collected during full thickness flap surgery, then minced, homogenized, and centrifuged. Supernatants containing the gingival/periodontal protein and the serum were electrophoresed against rabbit antihuman IgG and ALB. The relative IgG/ALB ratios in each specimen were plotted against known concentrations of IgG using a least squares analysis to provide evidence for local synthesis. In comparing mean IgG/ALB ratios for all tissue types, it was noted that normal gingiva did not differ significantly from serum. Diseased and granulomatous tissues, taken together or separately, had significantly higher IgG/ALB ratios than normal gingiva or serum, demonstrating that 73.6% of the IgG present was due to local synthesis. However, the greatest amounts of locally produced IgG were found in the granulomatous tissue from the deepest areas of the defects.