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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, December 2002, p. 4640-4645, Vol. 40, No. 12
0095-1137/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.40.12.4640-4645.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Antigenically Diverse Reference Strains and Autologous Strains of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans Are Equally Efficient Antigens in Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Analysis

Tiina Vilkuna-Rautiainen,^1,2* Pirkko J. Pussinen,^1,2 Kimmo Mattila,³ Marja Vesanen,^1,2 Heidi Åhman,⁴ Baak Doan,^1,5 and Sirkka Asikainen^1,6

Institute of Dentistry, University of Helsinki,¹ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases,² Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Helsinki University Central Hospital,³ National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland,⁴ Department of Oral Microbiology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden,⁶ Department of Periodontology, University of Gazi, Ankara, Turkey⁵

Received 18 June 2002/ Returned for modification 6 September 2002/ Accepted 23 September 2002

Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans is a major pathogen in periodontitis. Data on the clinical relevance of serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody levels against this species are controversial. The aim of the present study was to elucidate how different strains used as antigens in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) influence the detection of individuals with elevated serum IgG levels against A. actinomycetemcomitans. We hypothesized that the highest antibody levels are targeted to the autologous strains. A total of 19 strains—six antigenically diverse reference strains (serotypes a through e and a nonserotypeable strain) and 13 serotyped autologous strains—were used as whole-cell antigens in ELISA. Serum samples were from 26 untreated adult patients with periodontitis, whose subgingival bacterial samples were either culture positive (n = 13) or culture negative (n = 13) for A. actinomycetemcomitans, and from 10 culture-negative nonperiodontitis subjects. The highest individual (P < 0.05) IgG levels against the reference strains were most commonly against serotypes a and b in patients and against serotype c in nonperiodontitis subjects. The culture-positive patients had the highest (P < 0.05) IgG antibody levels against their autologous strains and against the reference strains of the same serotype. On the contrary, for these patients the levels of antibody against the reference strains of other serotypes were comparable to those of the nonperiodontitis subjects. The results indicated that the serum IgG antibody levels against A. actinomycetemcomitans strongly depend on the strains used as antigens in the ELISA. Elevated serum IgG levels against A. actinomycetemcomitans can be detected equally well using either the autologous strains or a variety of antigenically diverse reference strains as antigens.

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