Applications of chemotactic-drug-targeting in prevention of periodontitis

Objective: Gingival sulcus is a preformed, physiological space between gingiva and teeth. Gingivitis and periodontitis. result characteristic changes in deepness of the sulcus and in cellular composition of crevicular fluid (CF), therefore this space and its elements are also essential for preventing diseases . Our objectives were: to test impedance based techniques in cell adhesion assay of CF-cells; to test effect of CDT-conjugates on CF-cell adhesion; to describe correlation between cellular responsiveness in samples representing different diseases; to find correlation between cell popoulations/CD markers and responsiveness of CF-cells. Methods: Carrier of the tested CDT ligand was a tustfsin derivative. Cell adhesion of CF-cells was monitored in a real-time mode by xCELLigence. CD-marker profiles of samples were characterized by direct immunocytochemistry/flow cytometry. Samples of 120 patients were analyzed. ANOVA test was used for statistical evaluation of data. Results: Cell adhesion of CF-cell samples proved to be significant on fibronectin coated surfaces, which property was influenced/blocked by the tuftsin containing CDT derivative. Diverse responsiveness was detected in samples of different pathological backgrounds (periodontitis, gingivitis, plaque, caries). Some drugs (antidepressants, antiepileptics) and some lifestyle habits (smoking) has decreased effectiveness of CDT-s. Investigation of CF-cell populations with CD-marker profiles show: the dominant cell population is the neutrophil granulocyte, while HLA-DR and CD14 negativity indicates the lack of monocytes. High number of cells express fibronectin receptor (CD49d) in patients of periodontitis and plaque, while complement receptor 3 (CD11b) and 4 (CD11c) were detected in samples from periodontitis, gingivitis which points to the presence of dendritic cells in these conditions. Conclusions: Some CDT ligands are able to modulate cell adhesion of CF-cells in a disease dependent way. It is presumed that differences in expression of molecular structures are responsible for diversities in cell adhesion (CD49d) and the effector functions (CD11b-c) characteristic to clinical conditions.