Immunomagnetic recovery of human neutrophil defensins from the human gingival crevice

Abstract

The human neutrophilic protein defensins are cationic, antimicrobial, cytotoxic, corticostatic chemotactic, opsonic peptides found in azurophilic granules and constitute about 5% of the total protein in human neutrophils. In the present study, defensins were recovered from the human gingival crevice using paramagnetic microspheres (beads), coated with anti-defensin antibodies. The bead-bound defensins were assayed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay developed in this laboratory. Twenty sites were sampled; defensin was found in 100% of the sites and ranged in amount from 270-2000 ng/site. The large local concentrations of defensins, estimated in the mg/ml range, may have major effects on the microbiology of the gingival crevice.