ABSTRACT
Aim: To provide information on the usefulness of salivary
immunoglobulin classes in the diagnosis of periodontitis.
Materials and methods: About 5 ml of unstimulated saliva was
collected from 25 newly diagnosed subjects with periodontitis and
21 sex/age-matched apparently healthy individuals into plain
sample bottles. The samples were collected between 9 am and
11 am at least, 1 hour after eating or washing of mouth and levels
of salivary immunoglobulin classes (IgA, IgG, IgE and IgM) were
determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Results: Only the mean level of IgA was significantly raised
(p = 0.05) in the saliva of periodontitis patients compared with
controls. The mean levels of IgG, IgM and IgE were not significantly
elevated in patients with periodontitis, when compared with
controls (p > 0.05).
Conclusion: This study showed that elevated salivary levels of
IgA could be used as a screening tool for periodontitis.
Clinical significance: Identification of patients at risk and the
diagnosis of active phases of periodontal disease remains a
challenge due to lack of laboratory test routinely employed in the
diagnosis and monitoring of patients with periodontal disease.
This study showed that elevated salivary levels of immunoglobulin
classes especially, IgA could be used as a screening tool for
periodontitis.