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Published on: December 18, 2013
Assessment of Age-Related Changes of Salivary Immunoglobulin A Levels among Healthy Individuals
Manishkumar Dinkar Shete1, Dipak Baliram Patil2, Priyatam Karade3
1Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Vasantdada Patil Dental College and Hospital, Sangli, Maharashtra, India.
Background:
Secretory immunoglobulin A (IgA) is the first line of defense against pathogens that invade mucosal surfaces. It has been reported that the immune system exhibits profound age-related changes. The aim of this study was to investigate the age-dependent changes of salivary IgA among healthy individuals.
Materials And Methods:
Saliva samples were collected from 120 healthy individuals (aged 11-70 years). The salivary IgA concentrations were measured by the use of a single radial immunodiffusion technique and analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, and Chi-square tests.
Results:
The mean salivary IgA levels were 81.11 ± 4.50 mg/dl at age 11-20 years, 92.71 ± 13.76 mg/dl at age 21-30 years, 96.50 ± 4.04 mg/dl at age 31-40 years, 104.96 ± 10.15 mg/dl at age 41-50 years, 113.22 ± 7.85 mg/dl at age 51-60 years, and 91.38 ± 4.77 mg/dl at age 61-70 years. There was a significant difference among the mean salivary IgA levels of different age groups (P < 0.001).
Conclusion:
These results showed that the salivary IgA levels exhibit age-related changes. Oral immunization may be considered to improve oral immunity when the salivary concentrations of IgA begin to decrease during lifetime.
