Relationships between the onset of pustulosis palmaris et plantaris, periodontitis and bacterial heat shock proteins.

Relationships between the onset of pustulosis palmaris et plantaris, periodontitis and heat shock proteins were studied by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to examine levels of immunoglobulin G (IgG) against Escherichia coli GroEL, a recombinant DnaJ of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans heat shock protein, a synthetic peptide made from the 180th to the 188th amino acids of Mycobacterium bovis BCG Hsp65, and a recombinant human Hsp60, in sera obtained from 43 pustulosis palmaris et plantaris patients judged to have chronic infectious diseases of the oral cavity. We found that the titers of IgG against E. coli GroEL and A. actinomycetemcomitans DnaJ in the sera from pustulosis palmaris et plantaris patients were significantly higher than those in the control group, whereas the titers of IgG against the synthetic M. bovis Hsp65 and the recombinant Hsp60 did not differ significantly. Periodontal therapy and extraction of teeth with periapical infectious resulted in remission of pustulosis palmaris et plantaris and a statistically significant reduction in the levels of IgG against E. coli GroEL in 9 of the 22 patients (41%) examined. We also found that the IgG levels against A. actinomycetemcomitans DnaJ in 6 serum samples of 16 (37%) were reduced, but not significantly, after the treatment. These results suggest that the IgG responses to heat shock proteins partially induced by oral bacteria may be related to the onset of pustulosis palmaris et plantaris in some patients.