title: Correlation of cytomegalovirus and human herpesvirus 7 with CD3+ and CD3+ CD4+ cells in chronic periodontitis patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Human chronic periodontitis is an inflammatory process characterized by dense accumulation of immune cells in the periodontal tissue. The periodontitis can lead to loss of teeth in the patient and the pathogenesis of this disease is not completely known. This study tested the hypothesis that chronic periodontitis-affected sites can harbor betaherpesviruses and that viruses are linked to a profile of the inflammatory infiltrate.
  
  
  METHODS
  Biopsies of periodontal tissue were taken from periodontitis-affected patients and from healthy subjects. Immunohistochemistry was performed to count CD19(+) B cells, CD3(+) total T cells, T-CD4(+) and T-CD8(+) cell subsets, and PCR was performed to detect cytomegalovirus and human herpesvirus 6 and 7 in the samples. One slide of each sample was stained with Giemsa for histopathological examination and to evaluate the quality of the cellular infiltrate.
  
  
  RESULTS
  As expected, tissues collected from healthy subjects presented no significant level of inflammatory infiltration and were therefore excluded from immunostaining procedures. Results showed that CD19(+) B cells were in higher number than CD3(+) T cells in the periodontitis-affected tissue, but this was not statistically significant. The T-CD4(+) lymphocyte subset was significantly higher than the T-CD8(+) lymphocyte subset (p = 0.004) in the samples. Cytomegalovirus and human herpesvirus 7 were found at periodontitis-affected sites, but not in tissue collected from healthy subjects (p = 0.04 and p = 0.04, respectively). Human herpesvirus 6 was rarely detected. We found a correlation between cytomegalovirus and lower CD19(+) /CD3(+) ratios (ratio < 0.9, p = 0.003) and between human herpesvirus 7 and lower CD19(+) /CD3(+) ratios (ratio < 0.9, p = 0.003) and higher CD4(+) /CD8(+) ratios (ratio > 1.1, p = 0.002).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows that cytomegalovirus and human herpesvirus 7 can be present at periodontitis-affected sites but are uncommon at healthy periodontal sites. Moreover, our data suggest that cytomegalovirus can be related to an inflammatory infiltrate with predominance of CD3(+) T cells, whereas human herpesvirus 7 can be associated with an infiltrate with predominance of T-CD4(+) cells. However, further studies are necessary to support this hypothesis. Herpesviruses could play a role in human chronic periodontitis by modulation of the T cell response.
authors: Department of Clinical Medicine, State University of Campinas, UNICAMP, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil. ronaldothomasini@yahoo.com.br
authors: R L
authors: RL
authors: Thomasini
authors: S H
authors: SH
authors: Bonon
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Durante
authors: S C B
authors: SC
authors: Costa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018941:Antigens, CD19 / Q000032:analysis; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D017252:CD3 Complex / Q000032:analysis; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D055113:Chronic Periodontitis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005260:Female; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016199:Herpesvirus 7, Human / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D018941:Antigens, CD19; D017252:CD3 Complex