Role of the Neutrophil in Oral Disease: Receptor Deficiency in Leukocytes from Patients with Juvenile Periodontitis

In many diseases in which cellular abnormalities of neutrophil locomotion are found, patients have oral complications. Localized juvenile periodontitis (LJP) is used as an example of a severe periodontal disease that is related to compromised neutrophil function. Studies of chemotaxis and binding of LJP neutrophils in response to chemotactic factors N-formylmethionylleucylphenylalanine (FMLP), a structural analogue of a bacterial product, and complement fragment C5a were carried out to identify the molecular basis of the compromised neutrophil function. The rate of chemotaxis in LJP neutrophils was significantly lower than that of control neutrophils, and LJP neutophils demonstrated fewer binding sites for these chemotactic factors than did normal neutrophils. The respective numbers of binding sites for FMLP on LJP neutrophils and normal neutrophils were 9,200 and 20,000 and for C5a were 133,000 and 218,000. However, for both chemotactic substances, the dissociation constants for LJP and normal neutrophils were similar. The expression of FMLP receptors was altered in LJP neutrophils, but no modulation abnormality was noted for the C5a receptor.