Group II phospholipase A(2) in human gingiva with periodontal disease.

Fourteen kilodalton phospholipase A(2) molecules (PLA(2)) are classified into two groups, I- and II-PLA(2), and only the latter has been considered to play a pathogenetic role in various forms of tissue inflammation. Previously we demonstrated high PLA(2) activity in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) of patients with periodontal disease, without determining the group of the enzyme involved. In this study, the activity, groups and levels of enzyme in gingiva taken from 13 sites of periodontal disease were determined using both biochemical and radioimmunological methods. A linear correlation between the activity and the level of II-PLA(2) was observed. No I-PLA(2) was found in any of the samples tested. These data suggest that the PLA(2) activity found in the GCF of patients with periodontal disease does not belong to the I-PLA(2) but to the II-PLA(2) group.