CHARACTERISTICS OF SYSTEMIC ANTIBODY-RESPONSES OF NONHUMAN-PRIMATES TO CELL-ENVELOPE AND CELL-WALL ANTIGENS FROM PERIODONTAL PATHOGENS

The immune response of the primate, Macaca fascicularis, to cell envel ope (CEA) or cell wall (CWA) antigens of several periodontal pathogens was examined to develop a strategy to interfere with ligature-induced periodontitis. Animals were parenterally immunized with CEA of either Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia or a combination of C EA:CWA of Campylobacter rectus, Fusobacterium nucleatum and Actinomyce s viscosus. Serum samples were taken every 2-4 weeks over a 4-month pe riod, which included a 13-week interval with molar teeth ligated. All of the nonhuman primates in the study exhibited baseline levels of Igc : IgM and IEA antibody to formalinized whole cells of the bacteria. Th ese levels increased significantly following immunization and were ele vated above baseline throughout the remainder of the experiment. The l argest change in antibody responses was seen in IgA antibody levels to P. gingivalis and C. rectus (42-fold above baseline), IgM antibody to P. intermedia, (41-fold increase) and IgG antibody to F. nucleatum an d A. viscosus (32 and 63-fold increases). Moreover, the nonhuman prima tes exhibited differences in isotype response levels to whole microorg anisms compared with the cell envelope antigens. These findings demons trate the capacity of these nonhuman primates to produce an active imm une response to microorganisms chronically colonizing the subgingival microbiota. Additionally, it appears that the bacteria mw exhibit some unique differences in their immunogenicity as detected by the nonhuma n primate and may contribute to the ability of the immune responses to effectively interact with these pathogens.