Anti-cardiolipin antibodies in chronic periodontitis patients in Kelantan,Malaysia

This study aimed to determine and compare the levels of anti-cardiolipin (anti-cl) antibodies between chronic periodontitis (cp) and control (non-cp) patients. a cross-sectional study was conducted on 35 cp (based on pocket depth > 3mm) and 39 non-cp patients aged 18 to 65 years old. plaque index (pi) and gingival index (gi) were recorded. five millilitres of blood samples were taken for determination of immunoglobulin g (igg) and immunoglobulin m (igm) anti-cl antibodies level by using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) method. data were analysed by spss version 20.0 with the significant p value of < 0.05 at 95% ci. pi and gi were found to be significantly higher in cp compared to non-cp group (p < 0.05). the mean igg anti-cl antibodies were significantly higher (p=0.002) in cp patients [4.46 (sd1.89)] compared to non-cp group [3.22 (sd1.35)]. the mean igm anti-cl antibodies were also significantly higher (p=0.019) in cp patients [3.28 (sd:1.57)] compared to non-cp group ([2.57 (sd:0.91)]. we hypothesized that periodontal infections stimulates production of anti-cl antibodies through the molecular mimicry mechanism.