EVALUATION OF MOUSE SALIVARY IGA DIRECTED AGAINST INDIGENOUS ORAL BACTERIA

We are developing an ELISA to follow the evolution of specific salivar y IgA directed against the indigenous oral bacteria of the BALB/c mous e. To reduce the variability of the IgA levels detected between differ ent mice, we standardized the method used for sampling saliva and the method used for bacterial cell fixation. Incubation of whole bacteria for one hour at 4-degrees-C in poly-L-lysine-treated plates followed b y glutaraldehyde fixation increased ELISA reactivities by improving ce ll fixation. Our results also indicate that salivary IgA concentration s in BALB/c mice peak at the age of three months and that biweekly car bachol-stimulated saliva sampling does not significantly affect the am ount of salivary IgA detected.