An Analysis of <scp>IgG</scp> Antibody to Periodontopathic Bacteria in Serum of Palmoplantar Pustulosis Patients With Periodontitis

It has been suggested that odontogenic infection may be an important risk factor for palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP). A recent comparative investigation of the constituent microbes of the oral microbiomes of patients with PPP and healthy controls identified higher levels of Prevotella, a genus of periodontopathic bacteria, in patients with PPP. Prevotella spp. are detected in deep periodontal pockets, suggesting that periodontopathic bacteria may be implicated in the progression of PPP. In this study, the IgG antibody titers to periodontopathic bacteria in the peripheral blood of periodontitis patients with PPP (n = 15) and of periodontitis patients (n = 22) but no systemic disease were measured, evaluated, and compared. The associations between the serum IgG antibody titers to periodontopathic bacteria of periodontitis patients (with and without PPP) and two indicators of gingival inflammation in periodontitis (bleeding on probing [BOP] and periodontal inflamed surface area [PISA]) were also investigated. The BOP rate and PISA did not differ significantly between periodontitis patients with PPP and those with no systemic disease, but the serum IgG antibody titer to the periodontopathic bacterial species Prevotella intermedia (Pi) was significantly higher in periodontitis patients with PPP (p < 0.05). In addition, the PISA of periodontitis patients with PPP was significantly correlated with the anti-Pi serum IgG antibody titer (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that periodontitis patients with PPP have a higher rate of infection with Pi than those with no systemic disease, and that Pi infection may be implicated in the pathogenesis of PPP.