A comparison of antibody levels to Bacteroides gingivalis in serum and crevicular fluid from patients with untreated periodontitis.

The levels of IgG antibody to Bacteroides gingivalis were measured in serum and sequential samples of crevicular fluid from healthy and diseased sites in patients with untreated periodontitis using ELISA. All subjects had detectable serum titres but there was a wide variation in titre between subjects. Moderate to strong correlations were found between serum and crevicular fluid levels of IgG. A statistically significant difference was observed between sequential samples of crevicular fluid. There was no difference in the level of specific IgG to B. gingivalis in crevicular fluid between healthy and diseased sites within the same individual.