Detection of periodontal disease activity by T cell receptor repertoire and cytokine profile of infiltrating T cells

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

In order to characterize the T cells infiltrating gingival tissues with periodontitis, T cell receptor repertoire and cytokine profile were investigated by means of immunohistological procedure. Periodontitis tissues were obtained at the time of periodontal surgery after completion of initial therapy. Gingivitis tissues as a control were also obtained from non-periodontitis lesions. Serial cryostat sections from each specimen were immunostained for TCR V gene products (Valpha2, Vbeta5.2-3, Vbeta5.3, Vbeta5.1, Vbeta6.7, Vbeta8, Vbeta12) and cytokines (IL-2, IFN-gamma, IL-4, IL-6) with alkaline phosphataseanti alkaline phosphatase method. Relative percentages were caluclated by dividing the number of each positive cell by total number of CD3 positive cells. Moreover, for comparison between gingival tissues and circulating pool, peripheral blood mononuclear cells from both groups were analyzed for the TCR repertoire by flow cytometry. The pattern of each TCR V gene product expression in i … More nflamed gingiva exhibited individual variation, nevertheless a consistent pattern emerged. The Vbeta5 subfamily and Vbeta6.7 were frequently used repertoires in gingiva, whereas the Valpha2 and Vbeta8 subfamily were underexpressed in most cases. Furthermore, the TCR V gene product expression in gingival tissue was biased compared with autologous peripheral blood. Three out of 10 periodontitis subjects showed 1 or 2 strikingly overrepresented repertoire comparatively with autologous blood. In these 3 subjects Vbeta6.7 was overexpressed in two cases and Vbeta5.2-3, Vbeta8 and Vbeta12 were overexpressed in one case. With respect to the cytokine profile, the proportion of IL-4- and IL-6- producing T cells was higher in periodontitis than in gingivitis. Moreover, a siginificant positive correlation between the proportion of IL-4-producing cells and the B cell : T cell ratio was noted. These data suggest that gingival T cells are not randomly mobilized from peripheral blood and that local events influence the TCR repertoire at the level of T cell recruitment or T cell expansion and the functional subsets of those T cells are Th2 type. Less