Lower protein concentration in GCF from patients with periodontitis: an indicator of host-specific inflammatory reaction.

To study the local inflammatory reaction associated with gingivitis and periodontitis, the protein concentrations were measured in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) from 3 types of site: (i) inflamed sites in patients with gingivitis alone; (ii) inflamed sites with or (iii) without tissue destruction in patients with periodontitis. The GCF was sampled with paper strips and the protein concentration was measured with the Bradford protein assay. Higher protein concentrations in GCF were found at inflamed sites in patients with gingivitis alone than at clinically similar sites without tissue destruction in patients with periodontitis. In contrast, the sites with various degrees of disease in the same periodontitis patient showed the same protein concentrations. These discrepancies indicate that the local inflammatory reaction in the gingiva is host- and not site-specific, i.e., the tissue destruction in periodontitis reflects a specific host response.