The relationship between receptor for advanced glycation end products expression and the severity of periodontal disease in the gingiva of diabetic and non diabetic periodontitis patients.

OBJECTIVE: Activation of receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) has been implicated in many chronic diseases, including diabetic complications. In this study we examined the relationship between RAGE expression and the morphological changes seen in the gingiva of diabetic and periodontitis patients. DESIGN: Gingival biopsies from 15 diabetic patients with periodontitis, 25 non diabetic patients with periodontitis and 10 healthy individuals were collected. Sections were stained with haematoxylin and eosin, and immunohistochemically to detect RAGE. Samples were examined in light and fluorescence microscopes and histomorphometric analysis was performed. RESULTS: Increased number of inflammatory cells and changes in collagen and vasculature were observed in diabetic and non diabetic patients with periodontitis. RAGE was weakly expressed in healthy gingiva. The strongest reaction with anti-RAGE antibody was found in the gingiva of diabetic patients with periodontitis followed by the severe periodontitis patients. RAGE expression in inflammatory cells was stronger than in the epithelium. The number of inflammatory cells in the gingiva was higher in the diabetic periodontitis patients than in the non diabetic severe periodontitis patients. CONCLUSIONS: RAGE is strongly expressed in the gingiva of diabetic patients with periodontitis and with severe periodontitis alone, the latter indicating RAGE activation even in the absence of hyperglycemia. However our findings are based on relatively small sample size. With a larger patient population, some of our other findings may have reached statistical significance.

The effect of lathyrism on dentin structure of the rat incisors: a morphometric and scanning electron microscopic investigation.

BACKGROUND: The present study was designed to study the effect of beta-aminopropionitrile (beta-APN), present in Lathyrus sativus grass pea consumed in drought prone areas, on dentin of the continuously erupting rat incisors. METHODS: Eighteen adult male rats were used. In the experimental group (18 rats), lathyrism was induced by a once daily subcutaneous administration of beta-APN for 40 days. The maxillary and mandibular incisors were examined ultrastructurally and morphometrically. RESULTS: The mean number of patent tubules, the mean area, perimeter and the area percent of the tubules were analyzed. Ultrastructurally, the dentinal tubules of both coronal and radicular dentin in the lathyritic group were narrower or even obliterated compared with those in the control. The coronal and radicular dentin of the lathyritic group exhibited an irregular lattice of non-mineralized small branching collagen fibrils obliterating the dentinal tubules. The mean number of patent tubules in the control and lathyritic groups revealed an insignificant difference. The mean area of the tubules showed a statistically significant difference in lathyritic radicular dentin (P = 0.0353). The percentage of the total surface area of the dentinal tubules significantly decreased in the radicular dentin of the lathyritic group (P = 0.024). CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicated a deleterious effect of lathyrism on dentin, with a possible negative impact on developing teeth integrity.