Increased release of IL-12p70 by monocytes after periodontal therapy

Objectives: It has been suggested that periodontal inflammation may result in an altered immune response. The peripheral immune capacity in periodontitis patients can be investigated using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated whole blood cell cultures (WBCC), known to reflect the behavior of monocytes in particular. A previous study in our laboratory revealed that monocytes in the stimulated cultures from periodontitis patients behaved functionally different compared with controls. The present study investigated whether this different response of periodontitis patients' monocytes is intrinsic or acquired. Material and Methods: The release of inflammatory mediators was measured in Escherichia coli LPS-stimulated WBCC from 12 periodontitis patients before and after periodontal therapy. In addition, the total leukocyte and leukocyte differentiation counts were also determined in the patients before and after therapy. Results: The levels of interleukin (IL)-12p70 in cell culture supernatants increased two times and those of prostaglandin E-2 showed a trend towards reduction after therapy, whereas the levels of IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p40 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha did not change. The total number of white blood cells was decreased after periodontal therapy. Conclusions: After periodontal therapy, the functional phenotype of the peripheral blood monocytes from patients was reconstituted, resembling that of subjects without periodontitis.