[Chemiluminescence response and phagocytic activity of murine polymorphonuclear leukocytes to various species of oral bacteria].

Abstract

Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) are predominant cells in the gingival crevice and saliva, and may play an important role in oral bacteria. Murine peritoneal PMN was used and stimulated with 9 genera, 17 species of oral bacteria, including cariogenic and periodontal pathogens. The PMN response to the bacteria was measured by the luminol mediated chemiluminescence (CL) response and phagocytic activities, and the activities of lysozyme in the reaction medium after the CL response were also measured. The bacteria which could induce a high level of CL response of PMN were Fusobacterium nucleatum, Treponema denticola and Bacteroides gingivalis; middle grade were Staphylococcus subsp. and Actinomyces subsp.; low levels were Lactobacillus subsp., all 5 species of Streptococci and Enterococcus faecalis. Phagocytic indexes of PMN to various kind of bacteria were distributed from 8 to 40% and the bacterial numbers in 100 PMN were 27 to 301. There was no correlation between CL values and phagocytic indexes or between CL values and the bacterial number in 100 PMN by limiting the data on Staphylococcus, Streptococcus subsp. and Lactobacillus subsp., the correlation efficiency which was obtained between their values was r = 0.91 or 0.86. There was only a little in the lysozyme activities released from PMN by stimulation of various kind of bacteria, and the maximum difference corresponded to only 2.8% of the whole lysozyme activity of PMN. Either catalase activities or SOD activities were measured by H2O2 decomposition or the inhibition of xanthine oxidase activity using the intact bacteria. Neither of the enzyme activities of bacteria were closely related to the level of CL response.