title: Autoantibodies directed to extracellular matrix components in patients with different clinical forms of periodontitis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Periodontal disease occurs in different clinical forms, from mild and easily controllable to more aggressive inflammatory manifestations, with difficult clinical or surgical control. There is evidence that a local autoimmune reaction may participate in the onset and persistence of the aggressive forms of periodontal disease. As the underlying mechanism in this process is not fully understood, we decided to investigate whether patients bearing this form of disease presented higher levels of antibodies directed to extracellular matrix (ECM) components such as type I collagen, fibronectin, and laminin.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three groups of patients were selected by clinical criteria: 22 subjects with aggressive periodontitis (AgP) = group A; 18 subjects with chronic periodontitis (CP) = group B; and 10 healthy (H) volunteers without periodontal disease = group C. Autoantibody levels were evaluated in the sera of these patients using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The levels of autoantibodies directed to ECM components (type I collagen, fibronectin and laminin) in the sera of patients with AgP and CP were shown to be statistically different (P <0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the present findings suggest an involvement of autoantibodies directed to ECM components per se in the pathogeny of certain types of periodontal disease, the available data do not support the classification of the lesions as autoimmune. Nevertheless, the findings open a possibility for the development of an additional method for a differential diagnosis of the aggressive forms of periodontal disease.
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Immunology, Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Parasitology, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luiz A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: De-Gennaro
authors.forename: José D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mariano
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016301:Alveolar Bone Loss / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D022782:CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding Protein-beta; D002908:Chronic Disease; D024042:Collagen Type I / Q000276:immunology*; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D005353:Fibronectins / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007797:Laminin / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010518:Periodontitis / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology*; D012016:Reference Values; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D022782:CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding Protein-beta; D024042:Collagen Type I; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins; D005353:Fibronectins; D007797:Laminin