Lactoferrin in the gingival crevice as a marker of polymorphonuclear leucocytes in periodontal diseases

Abstract

This study examined lactoferrin (LF) levels in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) and set out to test the hypothesis that LF could act as a marker of crevicular polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN). Therefore, 2 experiments were conducted: (a) to quantify total LF (ng/30 s sample) in GCF; (b) to correlate LF levels (ng/microliters) and PMN numbers (PMNs/microliters) in gingival crevicular washings (GCW). GCF was collected from 71 sites in a total of 22 patients. These sites were classified on the basis of clinical indices of gingivitis (GI) and pocket depth (PD) into three clinical groups: 'healthy', 'gingivitis' and 'periodontitis'. GCWs were obtained from an additional 63 sites in 21 patients. LF in GCF and GCWs was assayed by a sandwich ELISA. Total leucocyte and differential counts were performed on the GCWs. GCF LF (ng/30 s) correlated positively with GI (r = 0.418, p < 0.001), PD (r = 0.415, p < 0.001) and GCF volume (r = 0.624, p < 0.001). Gingivitis (n = 21) and periodontitis sites (n = 24) demonstrated significantly higher (p < 0.05) total GCF LF than healthy (n = 26) sites. In GCWs LF (ng/microliters) showed stronger correlations with clinical indices (GI: r = 0.452, PD: r = 0.513, p < 0.001) than did PMN numbers (PMNs/microliters) (GI: r = 0.279, PD: r = 0.388, p < 0.05). LF correlated strongly with PMNs in GCWs (r = 0.531, p < 0.001) and provides a simple and effective marker of crevicular PMN numbers.

Characterization of lactoferrin in gingival crevicular fluid of chronic periodontitis patient

“…This illustrates that the increase in the chronic periodontitis severity affects the concentration of lactoferrin in gingival crevicular fluid. These results are in accordance with the opinion of Adonogianaki et al 14 and Ozdemir et al 19 that there are different levels of lactoferrin in GCF significantly between patients with gingivitis and periodontitis compared with healthy subjects. Tsai et al 8 also revealed that there is a strong relationship between periodontal clinical parameters with levels of lactoferrin.…”

Periodontitis, periodontopathic bacteria and lactoferrin

“…Another study indicated that the hLF level in GCF correlates with the clinical severity of periodontal diseases and the number of polymorphonuclear leucocytes (Adonogianaki et al 1993). A decrease in hLF levels was observed in GCF and saliva after surgical periodontal treatment in chronic periodontitis (Jentsch et al 2004), and in GCF and peripheral blood after oral hygiene procedures in experimental gingivitis using healthy volunteers (Ozdemir et al 2009).…”

Gingival Crevicular Fluid: Biomarkers of Periodontal Tissue Activity

“…The antibacterial properties of lactoferrin are due to its high affinity for iron, thus locking available sources required for bacterial growth. Lactoferrin showed better correlation with clinical indices than PMNs (Adonogianaki et al, 1993). Friedman et al (1983) found that lactoferrin increased twofold in GCF in sites showing gingivitis, periodontitis, and localized juvenile periodontitis.…”