The salivary IgA antibodies to the extracts of Bacteroides gingivalis and Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans were measured with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 45 subjects with adult type of marginal periodontitis.The reference curve for the binding of salivary IgA to the bacterial antigens was established by testing serial dilutions of the standard saliva. The curve for each bacterial antigen was converted to the regression line using an equation for log-logit transformation with a high correlation coefficient of more than 97 percent. Antibody activity in each saliva sample was estimated from the line for the respective antigen and was expressed as ELISA units (EU).When subjects were divided into two groups in reference to the periodontal pocket depth of 4mm, salivary IgA levels to both B. gingivalis and A. actinomycetemcomitans were significantly higher in subjects with deeper pocket depth. But when they were divided in reference to the periodontal pocket depth of 5mm, the subjects with deeper pocket depth had significantly elevated IgA levels to only B. gingivalis.The results indicated that the increase of salivary IgA level to these bacteria, especially to B. gingivalis, was associated with severity of periodontitis.
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Sato et al. (1987) studied this question.