Background: The involvement of reactive oxygen species in periodontal diseases is unclear. The aim of the present study was to explore the oxidative function of neutrophilic leukocytes of the peripheral venous blood in patients with severe periodontitis and type 1 diabetes mellitus and in the control subjects with healthy periodontal tissues and without systemic diseases.
Materials and methods: The leukocytes for the present investigation were obtained from peripheral venous blood of 38 patients with severe periodontitis and type 1 diabetes mellitus and 27 control subjects. The maximal luminol-dependent chemiluminescence and peak time values of neutrophils stimulated with non-opsonized Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Staphylococcus aureus 256 were measured.
Results: The maximal luminol-dependent chemiluminescence of neutrophils in patients with severe periodontitis, stimulated with non-opsonized Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, is mainly lower than that in the control group subjects (p < 0.001). Luminol-dependent chemiluminescence of neutrophils reached its maximal value at the same time in both the diseased and the healthy patients.
Conclusion: In periodontitis, local non-opsonized bacteria might stimulate neutrophilic leukocytes to release oxygen species. However, these cells in patients with periodontitis are characterized by a lower intensity of luminol-dependent chemiluminescence (p < 0.001) compared to analogous findings in people with healthy periodontal tissues. This might indicate insufficient microbicidal activity of these cells in patients with periodontitis.