This interpretation is further supported because, overall, these commensal bacterial species are detected in substantially larger quantities in both healthy and periodontitis patients compared to the oral burden with the pathogens [7,30–33]. Thus, it would

be predicted that if the level of antibody responses were a function of the magnitude of antigenic challenge (i.e. the portion of the bioburden due to a particular species), the antibody response to the commensal bacteria should be substantially more robust than the response to the periodontal pathogens. Stratifying the patients into disease severity AZD1152-HQPA groups based upon mean pocket depth demonstrated that only the sum of antibody responses to the periodontal pathogens increased significantly with selleck screening library severity of periodontal disease, while the response to the commensals was similar across the disease

groups. Additionally, comparing the antibody responses to the pathogens and commensals in the disease-stratified patients showed that in the most diseased patients the antibody levels to the pathogens were greater than antibody to the commensal bacteria. Comparison of the antibody levels to the individual bacterial species in disease-stratified groups demonstrated that among the pathogens, P. gingivalis was the only species that increased significantly with severity of disease. Therefore, in this adult population, antibody to P. gingivalis appears to provide a distinct marker of the current periodontal status, which is L-gulonolactone oxidase also a reflection of past disease experience in the patients. P. gingivalis has been implicated strongly as a periodontal pathogen, and it is biologically

plausible that it might elicit a disproportionate antibody response. Examination of antibody levels, disease and smoking using correlation analysis provided some additional observations. Minimal correlation was noted between antibody levels BOP. While the extent of inflammation is generally related to the severity and extent of periodontitis, one explanation in this population could lie in the fact that all subjects in the study are current smokers. Smoking reduces BOP because the nicotine in cigarettes causes vasoconstriction in the gingiva, so this may alter the relationship between immune response capacity and the extent of BOP [34]. Vasoconstriction also prevents white blood cells, and thus stimulation of IgG antibody production, from the microbial challenge in the gingiva. One might anticipate a different relationship in non-smoking subjects. This would be supported by existing literature describing differences in antibody levels in periodontitis versus control subjects that varied depending upon the smoking status of the subjects [35,36].