CVI Accepts, published online ahead of print on 30 September 2009

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Clin. Vaccine Immunol. doi:10.1128/CVI.00272-09
Copyright (c) 2009, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

IgG class, but not IgA or IgM, antibodies to peptides of the Porphyromonas gingivalis chaperone HtpG predict health in periodontitis using a fluorescent ELISA.

Domenica G. Sweier, P. Sandra Shelburne, William V. Giannobile, Janet S. Kinney, Dennis E. Lopatin, and Charles E. Shelburne^*

Department of Cariology, Restorative Sciences and Endodontics, Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine and The Michigan Center for Oral Health Research, and Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences, The University of Michigan School of Dentistry, Ann Arbor, Michigan

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: ceshelbu{at}umich.edu.

Chaperones are molecules found in all cells and critical in stabilization of synthesized proteins, repair/removal of defective proteins and as immunodominant antigens in innate and adaptive immunity. Subjects with gingivitis colonized by the oral pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis previously demonstrated levels of anti-human chaperone Hsp90 highest in individuals with best oral health. We hypothesized that similar antibodies to pathogen chaperones might be protective in periodontitis. This study examined the relationship between antibodies to P. gingivalis HtpG and the clinical status of healthy and periodontitis susceptible subjects. We measured the humoral response (IgG, IgA, IgM) to peptides of a unique insert (P18) found in Bacteroideace HtpG using a high throughput, quantitative, fluorescent ELISA. Indeed, higher levels of IgG class anti-P. gingivalis HtpG P18 peptide (p<0.05) and P18, the n-terminal 16 amino acids of P18 (p<0.05) were associated with better oral health; results opposite of those found with anti-P. gingivalis whole cell antibodies and levels of the bacterium in the subgingival biofilm. When we examined the same sera for IgA and IgM class antibodies we found no significant relationship to subject clinical status. The relationship between anti-P18 levels and clinical populations and individual subjects was improved when we normalized the anti-P18 values to anti P18 (the central 16 amino acids of P18). That same ratio correlated with the improvement in tissue attachment gain after treatment (p<0.05). We suggest that anti-P. gingivalis HtpG P18 antibodies are protective in periodontal disease and may have a prognostic value to guide individual patient treatment.