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Immunoglobulin (Ig) is an essential soluble mediator of humoral immunity to prevent infectious agents that invades the host. Secretory IgA is the main effecter in mucosal immunity and acts as a first line of defence in the host immunity system. Exercise is known to modulate the production of specific antibody and it is anticipated that dietary intervention such as bovine colostrum may modulate the mucosal immunity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of nutritional supplementation of bovine colostrum on salivary immunoglobulin A (sIgA). The subjects comprise adolescent school boys from Bukit Jalil Sports School that are actively involved on regular physical training. The subjects were randomly assigned into experimental (colostrum; n=20) or control (skimmed milk; n=20) group. The experimental and control groups were not significantly different in terms of age and body mass index. The former consumed 20 g of bovine colostrum supplement, and the latter 20 g of skimmed milk, daily for 6 weeks. sIgA measurement was conducted pre- (day 0) and post-supplementation (day 42). Bovine colostrum supplementation significantly increase saliva IgA (p

Background: It has become apparent that every pathologic process in the body involves the immune system. Periodontal inflammation is not an exception. Periodontal health depends on the interaction of microbial flora and host response. Since long, research is focused on understanding the immunopathologic mechanism operating in the development and maintenance of periodontal inflammatory changes. Methods: Patients of age 20-35 were selected. Nonstimulated saliva was collected and assessed using radial immunodiffusion assay to estimate levels of IgA. Results: The present study suggests patients with gingival index 0.2-0.5 and periodontal index 0 have a concentration of IgA less than 21.4%. As values of gingival and periodontal index go on increasing, the concentration of salivary IgA also increases. Conclusion: the concentration of salivary IgA is directly and positively correlated to severity of inflammation. Also the concentration of IgA depends on the presence of plaque.

Secretory immunoglobulin A (slgA) antibodies of non-maternal origin are present in newborns and slgA to HIV-1 antigens has been detected in infected adults. In this study we investigated the presence of HIV-1-specific IgA in saliva from 41 children (aged 1 day-46 months) born to women at risk for HIV-1 infection. Saliva samples were assayed for HIV-1 antibodies with IgA-specific Western blot. The samples from 10 out of 11 children with subsequently proven infection, including one aged 6 months, demonstrated IgA antibodies to HIV-1 envelope antigens. Samples from infants under 15 months, who were born to infected mothers and subsequently shown to be uninfected, were slgA negative. Of the 12 children with continued indeterminate HIV-1 status, eight showed neither slgA nor serologic evidence of infection and four showed slgA antibodies. HIV-1-specific slgA was detectable before the age of 15 months and may prove to be valuable in the diagnosis of HIV-1 infection in infants.

The adherence of Streptococcus mutans to hydroxyapatite was studied in the presence of salivary fractions with varying activity of naturally occurring immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies. Human parotid saliva from different donors was fractionated by chromatography and compared. Salivary IgA antibodies had no decisive effect on the adherence of the S. mutans strain used. High-molecular-weight salivary components from some subjects had an adherence-promoting effect, whereas fractions collected after the void volume of a Sepharose 2B column always inhibited adherence. The data indicate that the influence of unfractionated saliva on adherence is dependent on the net effect of adherence-promoting and adherence-inhibiting components. This principle has to be considered when the effect of human saliva on microbial adherence is studied.

The salivary immunoglobulin A (IgA) activity to antigens from four common oral streptococci was analyzed in samples from five humans. From each individual, parotid and whole saliva were collected 12 times over a period of 4 months. In samples collected at different occasions, the salivary IgA activity varied considerably. The variations showed a covariation with the concentration of total IgA in the saliva samples. A covariation was also found between salivary IgA antibodies of different specificity. It is concluded that reference antigens, in combination with measurement of total IgA concentration, ought to be used when evaluating the salivary IgA response in humans.

Summary Patients with ulcerative colitis have been investigated for evidence of defects in secretory immunity. Total serum IgA concentration, serum IgA antibody titres to Candida albicans, salivary IgA and free secretory component concentrations have been measured in thirty-six patients with ulcerative colitis and thirty-six normal controls. None of the parameters was significantly different between patients with proctitis and patients with extensive colitis or between the colitis patients and normal controls.

Forty-six college students provided saliva samples just after taking an examination, one hour and 45 minutes later, and several days later, at a period of rest. As compared with baseline levels, the power stress of an examination was associated with an increase in salivary immunoglobulin A (S-IgA), a measure of B-cell immune function, and with an increase in norepinephrine (NE) concentrations in the saliva. The increase in NE was greater for those for whom n power was greater than n affiliation rather than for those for whom the reverse was true. Greater increases in, and levels of, NE at the examination and after were associated with greater subsequent drops in S-IgA, which reached below baseline levels for those for whom n power was stronger. The examination stimulated adrenergic activity, which in the long run depressed immune function for those with a strong power motive who had been most aroused adrenergically by the examination.

One-hundred and thirty-two college students were exposed in small groups to two films which contrasted in the extent to which they aroused either power or affiliation motivation. In previous studies high power motivation, if it is inhibited, has been associated with lower levels of salivary immunoglobulin A (S-Ig A), and high affiliation motivation, if it is not inhibited, is associated with higher concentrations of S-Ig A. The film which aroused power motivation more was not followed by a decrease in S-Ig A concentrations as predicted, but the film was followed by a significant reduction in S-Ig A concentrations for those individuals with the inhibited power motive syndrome at baseline as compared to individuals characterized by other motive syndromes. The film which aroused affiliation motivation more was followed by an increase in S-Ig A concentrations immediately afterwards, and this increase was sustained an hour later when subjects continued to dwell on the loving relationships that charact...

The effect of academic stress on immune function, as measured by the rate of secretion of salivary secretory immunoglobulin A (s-IgA), was studied prospectively in 64 first-year dental school students. Perceived stress and s-IgA secretion rate were measured five times--during an initial low-stress period, three high-stress periods coinciding with major examinations, and a final low-stress period. The s-IgA secretion rate was significantly lower in high-stress than low-stress periods for the whole group. In addition, personality characteristics differentiated patterns of s-IgA secretion rates. Students characterised by a great need to establish and maintain warm personal relationships secreted more s-IgA at each point than did all other subjects. The s-IgA secretion rates of those with a high inhibited need for power continued to decline through the final low-stress period rather than recovering as in all other subjects.

Purified glucosyltransferase isolated from Streptococcus sanguis OMZ 9 and different immunoglobulin A from saliva, saliva pellet, and dental plaque were used to study enzyme-antibody interactions. A strong inhibition of glucosyltransferase activity was obtained with the different immunoglobulin A fractions.

Summary: Parotid saliva was collected from 159 normal children with ages ranging from four to 12 years, from 58 children (patients) presenting with atypical mycobacterial lymphadenitis and from 39 of the patients' parents. Immunoglobulin A (IgA) and albumin values were determined in each specimen using a single radial diffusion method followed by radioactive labelling. The values for the control children showed no systematic variations with age or sex, and frequency distributions plotted logarithmically approximated to ‘normal’curves. The mean and standard deviation were 22 ± 14 μg/ml for IgA, and 0.26 ± 0.19 μg/ml for albumin, but correlation between these two parameters was low (r = 0.24). The frequency distributions of salivary albumin values for the patients and their parents also approximated to ‘normal’curves, but the curve for the patients' salivary IgA values showed an excess of extreme values compared with the controls. Although girls predominated among the patients (35 girls to 23 boys) there were fewer girls with silavary IgA values below 10μg/ml(7 girls to 11 boys) and many more with values above 30 μg/ml (12 girls to 3 boys). One Girl and three boys had both serum and silavary IgA values less than two standard deviation below the geometric means, but the correlation between serum and salivary IgA values in the order patients and in 22 control children was low. It is concluded that children presenting with superficial mycobacterial lymphadenits include more than one group aith high normal IgAs in which girls heavily predominate.

Fourteen freshly isolated strains of Streptococcus sanguis were obtained from the dental plaque of five healthy adults. Whole saliva was collected concomitant with the plaque isolates from the five subjects, and a second whole saliva sample was collected 10 weeks later. All possible combinations of the first five saliva samples, the second five saliva samples, and 14 strains of bacteria were tested for aggregation. Of the 140 combinations examined, 108 of 140 (77%) of the strains aggregated with the first saliva samples and 95 of 140 (68%) aggregated with the second saliva samples. Overall, 72% of the strains aggregated with both the first and second saliva samples. Removal of immunoglobulin A (IgA) from these same salivas resulted in 38 of 108 (35%) of the aggregates decreasing in intensity with the first saliva samples and 27 of 95 (29%) of the aggregates decreasing in intensity with the second saliva samples. No aggregates increased in intensity with saliva samples when IgA had been removed. Removal of IgA from saliva also resulted in a mean decrease of 46% in adherence of S. sanguis to hydroxyapatite coated with the IgA-deficient saliva. Several strains of S. sanguis were shown to aggregate strongly with human salivary and colostral IgA. In addition, S. sanguis strain S7 showed a 31% stimulation of adherence to hydroxyapatite precoated with human salivary IgA over the uncoated controls. Stepwise removal of IgA from saliva resulted in a decrease in aggregation intensity from strong (4+) to weak (1+ to 2+). Similarly, the adherence of S. sanguis to hydroxyapatite coated with these saliva samples decreased linearly as the salivary IgA was depleted. Alternatively, the addition of a small quantity of salivary IgA (20 μg/ml) to progressively diluted saliva maintained a high level of adherence and strong aggregation until the saliva dilutions reached between 1:8 in the adherence experiments and 1:32 for the aggregations. These data indicate that salivary IgA may play an important role in the microbial ecology of human dental plaque formation.