Immune response to Fusobacterium nucleatum and Prevotella intermedia in patients with chronic maxillary sinusitis.

Our objective was to study the immune response to 2 anaerobic bacteria in patients with chronic maxillary sinusitis. Immunoglobulin G class antibody titers to Fusobacterium nucleatum and Prevotella intermedia were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Serum levels in the patients were determined on the day sinus aspiration for culture was done, and 75 to 90 days later, after completion of antimicrobial therapy, Prevotella intermedia was isolated from 16 aspirates, and F. nucleatum from 12. Median antibody levels at day 1 for F. nucleatum and P. intermedia were significantly higher in patients whose serum aspirates harbored these organisms than at days 75 to 90 in those who were cured (p < .05). However, the levels stayed elevated in the 5 patients who did not improve. The elevated antibody levels to F. nucleatum and P. intermedia, known oral pathogens, suggest a potential pathogenic role for these organisms in chronic maxillary sinusitis.