Cell-mediated immunity in juvenile periodontitis and levamisole treatment

Immunostimulation with levamisole was attempted in eight patients with juvenile periodontitis and six reference patients with gingivitis but without loss of periodontal attachment. The following parameters were studied before and after levamisole treatment: gingival status, the concentration of serum immunoglobulins and complement, T and B lymphocyte ratio, leukocyte migration inhibition and lymphocyte transformation responses by dental plaque bacteria, PPD or PHA, and lymphocyte ATP-ase activity. In juvenile periodontitis cell-mediated immunity to dental plaque antigens seemed to be impaired, but the response was not restored by treatment with levamisole. There was no evidence of a broader suppression of cell-mediated immunity in juvenile periodontitis and there was no significant clinical effect of levamisole treatment. It is suggested that the apparent suppression of in vitro cell-mediated immunity to dental plaque bacteria in juvenile periodontitis is a secondary change, caused by a long-standing chronic infection.