ELASTASE RELEASE FROM GINGIVAL CREVICULAR AND PERIPHERAL NEUTROPHILS IN PERIODONTITIS AND HEALTH

The activity of elastase increases significantly in the gingival sulcu s during inflammation. The release of this enzyme from crevicular and peripheral polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMNs) was studied in seven pa tients with gingivitis, six with adult periodontitis, seven with rapid ly progressive periodontitis and in nine healthy subjects. Peripheral PMNs were isolated from blood and crevicular PMNs from gingival washin gs. After preincubation with cytochalasin B, the same numbers of crevi cular and peripheral cells were incubated either in phosphate-buffered saline (spontaneous release) or in the same buffer containing formyl methionyl-leucyl-phenyl-alanine (stimulated release). Elastase activit y was measured in the supernatant by a fluorimetric technique. The res ults confirm that compared to peripheral PMNs, crevicular cells show a higher spontaneous release of elastase and a lower stimulated release . The activity of elastase released either spontaneously or after stim ulation of crevicular cells was significantly lower in the controls as compared with cells obtained from patients with gingivitis or periodo ntitis. Crevicular PMNs collected from patients with deeper pockets ap pear to release larger amounts of elastase than those from controls.