title: Neutrophil elastase in crevicular fluid: comparison of a middle-aged general population with healthy and periodontitis groups.
abstract: Neutrophil elastase (NE) was measured in crevicular fluid (GCF) collected from 3 subject groups. GCF was harvested at a single visit of subjects with periodontal health (n = 21) and with periodontitis (n = 28). Samples were obtained from 132 middle-aged, middle-class health conscious patients of a health maintenance organization (HMO) at baseline and 1 year later. GCF NE was higher in periodontitis than in health. Mean GCF NE of HMO subjects was much closer to health than to periodontitis. Few members of the HMO population had enzyme levels typical of periodontitis. Subjects and sites of the HMO population were segregated into 3 categories based on enzyme levels of the healthy and periodontitis subjects. Most HMO subjects and sites were in the activity category corresponding to healthy subjects. Only a small portion were in the activity category common in periodontitis. Enzyme levels in the highest activity category at both samplings were infrequent. High enzyme levels in the HMO population were not associated with attachment loss. Thus, assay of GCF NE provided little evidence of disease in a middle-aged, middle-class health conscious general population. This finding confirms an analysis of epidemiological surveys which concluded that a population such as studied here would not benefit from periodontal diagnostic testing.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Research Center for Periodontal Diseases, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA.
authors.forename: Q T
authors.initials: QT
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Harriman
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Au
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Stoltenberg
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Osborn
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Aeppli
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fischer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005883:Gingival Crevicular Fluid / Q000201:enzymology*; D005884:Gingival Hemorrhage / Q000201:enzymology; D015438:Health Behavior; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations; D006801:Humans; D019272:Leukocyte Elastase; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D010196:Pancreatic Elastase / Q000032:analysis*; D017622:Periodontal Attachment Loss / Q000201:enzymology; D010514:Periodontal Pocket / Q000201:enzymology; D010518:Periodontitis / Q000201:enzymology*; D010519:Periodontium / Q000201:enzymology*; D012923:Social Class
chemical_list: D010196:Pancreatic Elastase; D019272:Leukocyte Elastase