Abstract
Trypsin-like enzyme activity was measured using a synthetic fluorescent substrate, N-α-benzoyl-L-arginine-7-amido-4-methylcoumarin, in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) collected from periodontal pockets in 14 adult periodontitis patients. Two kinds of GCF were collected from each patient using Periopapers®; one from the deepest pocket (≥4mm) and the other from the shallowest one (≤3mm). The enzyme activity was detected in all of the GCF samples, and log 10 (trypsin-like activity) was significantly correlated with probing depth (r=0.52, p<0.01).
The presence and amount of free amino acids in GCF and whole saliva was also measured by automatic amino acid analyser in another 12 patients with adult periodontitis. The amino acid amounts varied considerably in all the fluids. The free amino acid levels in whole saliva did not seem to reflect those of GCF. Because of the wide range of the concentrations of amino acids, no significant differences were found statistically in the free amino acid levels between GCF from the deepest periodontal pockets and GCF from the shallowest ones.
