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Salivary LL-37 Secretion in Individuals with Down Syndrome is Normal

¹ Institute of Dental Sciences,
³ Lautenberg Center of Immunology,
⁴ Department of Periodontics,
⁵ Department of Pediatric Dentistry, and
⁷ Department of Orthodontics, the Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine, P.O.B. 12272, Jerusalem, Israel 91120;
² Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, the Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel; and
⁶ National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Office of the Medical Director, Division for Mental Retardation, Ministry of Social Affairs, Israel

^* corresponding author, bgilad{at}md.huji.ac.il

Antimicrobial peptides play an important role in the innate immune response. Deficiency in salivary LL-37 antimicrobial peptide has been implicated in periodontitis in patients with morbus Kostman syndrome. Down syndrome is associated with periodontitis, diminished salivary flow, and salivary immunoglobulin deficiency. In the present study, levels of LL-37 and its hCAP18 precursor were measured in saliva samples from young individuals with Down syndrome and compared with levels in those from age-matched healthy controls. LL-37 and human cathelicidin antimicrobial protein (hCAP18) were detected in whole but not in parotid saliva. hCAP18 was more abundant than LL-37. The concentrations of salivary hCAP18 and LL-37 were found to be higher in individuals with Down syndrome than in healthy controls, but their secretion rates were similar. We concluded that, while the adaptive immunity of individuals with Down syndrome is impaired at the oral mucosa, the secretion rate of the LL-37 component of the innate immune system is normal.

KEY WORDS: Down syndrome • saliva • LL-37 • hCAP18 • innate immunity • antimicrobial peptides