Determination of lymphocyte populations and subpopulations extracted from chronically inflamed human periodontal tissues

The lymphocyte populations and subpopulations extracted from inflamed periodontal tissues of patients with adult periodontitis were determined. 34 patients were grouped according to the gingival index score (GI) of 1, 2 and 3. Gingival tissue from 2 involved teeth was excised, treated with collagenase, and infiltrating cells were isolated and identified using monoclonal antibodies for lymphocyte sets and subsets. The % of CD3+ cells was about 54.5% in all 3 patient groups, but the percentage of CD22+ cells increased from 28.9 +/- 3.3% in the group with GI = 1 to 33 +/- 1.2% in the group with GI = 3. %s of CD4+ cells and activated CD4+ cells increased from 30.2 +/- 2.1% and 4.7 +/- 1.7% in the group with GI = 1 to 38.4 +/- 1.2% and 16.0 +/- 3.4% in the group with GI = 3, respectively, while in the same groups, the % of CD8+ cells decreased from 24.9 +/- 2.0% to 17.7 +/- 1.6%. These data indicate a possible importance of activated CD4+ cells in pathogenetic mechanisms of periodontitis.