SUPERANTIGENS IN PERIODONTAL DISEASE

牙周病的具体致病过程还没有 尚未被阐明。 牙周炎的治疗方法 口袋被怀疑在疾病的发生中起作用， 许多研究都集中在免疫反应上， 涉案 在这里，我们试图确定这些细菌是否可能 含有超抗原，能够刺激整个类的物质， T细胞以相对非特异性的方式反应和增殖。 我们通过将培养的外周血细胞暴露于超声处理来评估这一点 候选细菌以及控制物质已知诱导 超抗原反应，如中毒性休克综合征毒素。 我们评估 通过测量细菌是否诱导超抗原反应， 使用RT-PCR检测20种V-β类别中每一种的T细胞m-RNA的量 法 我们的数据表明这些微生物确实含有超抗原， 但不同的人类受试者的响应水平可能不同。 这反过来又支持了人类遗传变异可能 在牙周病的易感性中起重要作用。

The specific pathogenic processes underlying periodontal diseases have not yet been elucidated. Anaerobic bacteria present in the periodontal pockets have been suspected to play a role in disease initiation and progression, and numerous studies have focused on the immune responses involved. Here, we sought to establish whether these bacteria might contain superantigens, substances capable of stimulating an entire class of T-cells to respond and proliferate in a relatively non-specific manner. We assessed this by exposing cultured peripheral blood cells to sonicates of the candidate bacteria as well as to control substances known to induce superantigen responses such as toxic shock syndrome toxin. We assessed whether the bacteria were inducing a superantigen response by measuring the amount of T-cell m-RNA of each of 20 V-beta classes using a RT-PCR method. Our data indicate that these microbes do contain superantigens, but the level of response may differ among different human subjects. This, in turn, supports the hypothesis that human genetic variation may play an important role in susceptibility to periodontal diseases.