title: Level of neopterin, a marker of immune cell activation in gingival crevicular fluid, saliva, and urine in patients with aggressive periodontitis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Neopterin, a marker of cellular immune activation, is produced by human macrophages after induction by interferon gamma that is secreted by T lymphocytes. Neopterin concentrations in diverse body fluids have been reported to increase in parallel with bacteria in the clinical course of infections. Therefore, determination of neopterin in body fluids was thought to be useful for predicting the prognosis and diagnosis of aggressive forms of periodontal disease, in which the cell-mediated immune response plays an important role in immunopathogenesis. The aim of the present study was to observe the role of neopterin in the pathogenesis of aggressive periodontitis (AgP).
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirteen individuals who were systemically and periodontally healthy and 16 systemically healthy individuals diagnosed with AgP were recruited for this study. Mixed saliva and urine samples were collected from each subject. Gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) samples were obtained from 6 teeth with > or =5 mm probing depth (PD). After evaluation of GCF amount from paper strips, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was employed to determine the amount of neopterin in urine, saliva, and GCF.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The amount of neopterin in urine and saliva measured 235.77+/-405.31 micromol neopterin/mol creatinine and 9.85+/-7.66 nmol/l, respectively, for the AgP group and 225.45+/-100.72 micromol neopterin/mol creatinine and 5.25+/-5.76 nmol/l, respectively, for controls. The present data demonstrate that, while salivary neopterin levels were found to be significantly different between periodontitis and control subjects, there were non-significant differences in urine neopterin levels. The amount and concentration of neopterin in GCF measured was 18+/-12.75 nmol/l and 3.67+/-2.40 nmol/ml for the AgP group and 2.51+/-1.72 nmol/l and 3.88+/-4.50 nmol/ml for the control group. When total amounts of neopterin are taken into consideration, a significant difference between AgP and controls is shown; however, no significant difference in net concentration of neopterin was found between both groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study is the first report to evaluate the involvement of neopterin in AgP and this might be considered of value in understanding periodontal disease mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Faculty of Dentistry, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nurdan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ozmeriç
authors.forename: Terken
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Baydar
authors.forename: Ayen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bodur
authors.forename: Ayse Basak
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Engin
authors.forename: Ahu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Uraz
authors.forename: Kaya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eren
authors.forename: Gonul
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sahin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005883:Gingival Crevicular Fluid / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008297:Male; D019798:Neopterin / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000652:urine; D010518:Periodontitis / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology*; D012463:Saliva / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D019798:Neopterin