Interleukin-11, interleukin-1beta, interleukin-12 and the pathogenesis of inflammatory periodontal diseases.

OBJECTIVES: The balance between pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines may be crucial for determining the immunopathology of gingivitis (G) and periodontitis. This study aimed to analyse interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), IL-11 and IL-12 levels in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) of patients with G and chronic periodontitis (CP). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fourty subjects including 12 CP, 14 G and 14 controls (C) were enrolled. GCF samples were collected from six maxillary sites per patient and analysed for IL-1beta, IL-11 and IL-12 by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Significantly lower concentrations of IL-11 were detected in CP compared with both G and C groups (p<0.05). The CP group had a significantly higher total amount of IL-12 and IL-1beta compared with the C group (p<0.05). The IL-11:IL-1beta cytokine ratio was higher in both G and C groups compared with the CP group. The IL-11:IL-1beta ratio became progressively lower with increasing probing depth (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our data showed that IL-11 levels are significantly decreased in GCF from sites with periodontitis compared with G and healthy sites. Because of the possible preventive effect of IL-11 on inflammation, IL-11 may be an important factor in the therapeutic modulation of periodontal disease.

Elevated tear interleukin-6 and interleukin-8 levels in patients with conjunctivochalasis.

PURPOSE: To determine the interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 levels in the tear samples of patients with conjunctivochalasis (CCh) and to correlate the severity of symptoms with tear IL levels. METHODS: Fifty-one eyes at different stages of CCh and 10 eyes of healthy controls were recruited for this prospective study undertaken at a single university-based hospital. CCh was graded based on the extent of inferior lid margin involvement as follows: 1 = single (temporal) location, 2 = 2 locations, and 3 = whole lid. The presence of punctal occlusion and fluorescein clearance patterns were recorded. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to determine IL levels. Severity of symptoms was assessed with the ocular surface disease index. RESULTS: Of the 51 study patients (mean age = 63.4 +/- 6.9 years), 16 had grade 1, 21 had grade 2, and 14 had grade 3 CCh. Tear IL-6 and IL-8 levels were significantly higher in patients with CCh than in controls (P

Antibody response to a seven-valent pneumococcal conjugated vaccine in patients with ataxia-telangiectasia.

Immunodeficiency is a characteristic feature of ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T). Humoral immunodeficiency generally consists of hypogammaglobulinemia and impaired antibody response to bacterial and viral antigens. We previously observed defective antibody response to 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV) in 96% of 29 patients with A-T. In this study, we investigated the antibody response to a seven-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, PCV7, in 14 patients with A-T. IgG antibody levels to four pneumococcal serotypes, 6B, 14, 19F, 23F, which were included in PCV7, were measured by ELISA in pre- and postimmunization serum samples. Antibody titers against each individual Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype was considered to be positive when serotype specific pneumococcal antibody titer was higher than 10% (>10 U/mL) of the reference plasma pool level. However, when the fold increase (FI) in postimmunization antibody titer was less than two, the subject was determined to be unresponsive to the given serotype. The values were compared with the results obtained in age- and ethnic-matched children after one dose of PPV. Only two patients produced antibodies to one serotype each; one to serotype 19 with a fold increase of <2, and the other to serotype 23F with a fold increase of 5.7 based on the above criteria, although the differences between pre- and postvaccine antibody titers for serotypes 14, 19, and 23 appeared to be statistically significant. In conclusion, A-T patients failed to respond to one dose of PCV7 vaccine. Two or more doses of conjugated vaccine may be required to recruit the help of T lymphocytes in A-T patients.