Generation of superoxide anion by peripheral blood leukocytes in periodontitis patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus

Renata Šadzevičienė, Jonas Žekonis¹, Gediminas Žekonis¹

Clinic of Dental and Oral Pathology, ¹Clinic of Prosthetic Dentistry, Kaunas University of Medicine Hospital, Lithuania

Key words: diabetes mellitus, periodontitis, neutrophils, chemiluminescence.

Summary. The involvement of reactive oxygen species in periodontal diseases is unclear. The aim of present study was to explore oxidative function of neutrophil leukocytes of patients with severe periodontitis who have type 1 diabetes mellitus, and control subjects with healthy periodontal tissues and without systemic diseases.

Materials and methods. The leukocytes for present investigation were obtained from peripheral venous blood of 38 patients with severe periodontitis who have type 1 diabetes mellitus and 27 control subjects. The maximal lucigenin-dependent chemiluminescence and peak time values of neutrophils stimulated with non-opsonized Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Staphylococcus aureus 256 were measured.

Results. The maximal lucigenin-dependent chemiluminescence of neutrophils of patients with severe periodontitis stimulated with non-opsonized E. coli and S. aureus was much higher than that in control subjects (p<0.001).

In both affected and healthy patients, chemiluminescence of neutrophil leukocytes reached its peak value at similar time. The maximum value of chemiluminescence of leukocytes stimulated with non-opsonized E. coli in both studied groups was reached statistically significantly earlier than when stimulating with non-opsonized S. aureus bacteria (p<0.001).

Conclusion. In periodontitis, local non-opsonized bacteria might stimulate neutrophil leukocytes to release reactive oxygen species, which can cause inflammation and destruction of periodontal tissue.

Correspondence to R. Šadzevičienė, Clinic of Dental and Oral Pathology, Kaunas University of Medicine Hospital, Eivenių 2, 50009 Kaunas, Lithuania. E-mail: irenaned@takas.lt

Received 7 February 2005, accepted 26 May 2005