Quantitation of proline-rich proteins in whole saliva and parotid saliva at various levels of gingival inflammation in orthodontically treated and untreated subjects

PLEASE NOTE: This work is protected by copyright. Downloading is restricted to the BU community: please click Download and log in with a valid BU account to access. If you are the author of this work and would like to make it publicly available, please contact open-help@bu.edu.Thesis (M.Sc.D.)--Boston University, School of Graduate Dentistry, 1978 (Oral Biology)Includes bibliography (leaves 54-57)The purpose of this study was the quantitation of proline-rich proteins (PRPs) in parotid and whole saliva at various gingivitis levels. Saliva was collected from 3l subjects: 13 of them were patients with orthodontic appliances. The clinical evaluation showed that 14 had almost no gingival inflammation and no plaque accumulation, the other 17, including all the 13 orthodontically treated subjects, exhibited a mild to moderate gingival inflammation with significant plaque accumulation. Disc gel acrγlamide electrophoresis and double immunodiffusion indicated clearly that the PRP levels present in parotid secretion of all the 3l subjects were ranging between 16-40 mg % while the levels in whole saliva were lower and very different between the two groups. The subjects with moderate gingivitis and plaque accumulation did not display any detectable amount of PRPs while the subjects with very low gingival and plaque index scores exhibited significant amounts of PRPs. These were though much lower than the amount of PRPs in parotid saliva of the same subject. The PRPs seem to play an important role in the formation of the acquired cuticle and their apparent breakdown in an inflamed oral environment could decrease the defense mechanisms of the host against tooth caries