Juvenile periodontitis as a model for neutrophil function: reduced binding of the complement chemotactic fragment, C5a

The binding of the chemotactic complement fragment, C5a, to peripheral blood neutrophils of Localized Juvenile Periodontitis (LJP) patients and normal controls was quantitated using iodinated human C5a and a rapid centrifugation assay. There was a significant reduction in the number of binding sites per cell on neutrophils from the patient group, whereas the binding affinity remained the same as control values.