| The purpose of this study was to clinically characterize the extent of periodontal pathogenesis in patients with WHIM syndrome immune dysfunction compared to age-gender matched healthy controls. A cohort of WHIM patients and age matched healthy volunteers (n=23/group) were clinically evaluated. Clinical parameters included probing depths (PD), clinical attachment loss(CAL), bleeding upon probing (BOP) and missing teeth as well as radiographic evidence of bone loss. Demographics were summarized as frequencies. Data were evaluated using the Mann- Whitney U test with the InStat program (GraphPad Software). P values of < 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant. Patients with WHIM syndrome presented increased mean PD,CAL, BOP compared to age/gender matched healthy volunteers. These finding suggest that gain of function mutations in the chemokine receptor CXCR4 lead to increased periodontal disease susceptibility. Key Words: WHIM syndrome, periodontal disease, probing depth, clinical attachment loss, bleeding upon probing |