Mast cell degranulation in periodontal disease from HIV-infected individuals

Aim: The objective was to compare the density and degranulation of mast cells on specimens obtained from individuals diagnosed with gingivitis or chronic periodontitis who were either non-HIV-infected or HIV-infected patients treated with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Methods: Gingival samples were taken from 16 non-HIV-infected individuals and 17 HIV-infected individuals diagnosed with gingivitis and chronic periodontitis. The samples were processed and tained with 0.3 percent o-toluidine blue. Densities (cells/mm²) and percentages of intact and degranulated mast cells were obtained. Results: No statistically significant differences were observed in the mast cell density and the percentage of degranulated mast cells between non-HIV-infected and HIV-infected individuals diagnosed with gingivitis and chronic periodontitis. Mononuclear inflammatory infiltrate was weakly correlated with the percentage of mast cells degranulated for both groups. Conclusions: There are no differences of the density and degranulation of mast cells in gingival tissue between non-HIV-infected and HIV-infected patients undergoing HAART, both groups with diagnosis of gingivitis or chronic periodontitis. This may be a result of the recovery of the immunologic system by HAART treatment.

Avaliação do infiltrado inflamatório na gengivite crônica de indivíduos fumantes e não fumantes / Assessment of inflammatory infiltrate in chronic gingivitis of smoker and non-smoker individuals

O tabagismo tem sido considerado pela literatura um dos principais fatores de risco associado à doença periodontal. Substâncias como a nicotina podem afetar a vascularização, o sistema imunológico humoral e celular. Alterações no número de células inflamatórias podem ser observadas também em indivíduos com gengivite crônica. Neste estudo, foram avaliadas 27 amostras de tecidos gengivais que foram agrupadas em 10 amostras de indivíduos com gengivite e não fumantes (GNF), 10 amostras de indivíduos com gengivite e fumantes (GF) e 7 amostras controle (C) formada por indivíduos sem gengivite e não-fumantes. As biópsias foram coradas em hematoxilina-eosina e as células do infiltrado inflamatório foram contadas e expressas suas densidades em células/mm². O infiltrado inflamatório mononuclear foi maior no grupo GNF (137,60 ± 53,18) e GF (91,70 ± 42,59) quando comparado com o grupo C (12,43 ± 4,24), (p=0,0001 e p=0,002 respectivamente). Quando os grupos com gengivite foram comparados, observou-se um menor número de células inflamatórias no grupo GF (p=0,04). Conclui-se que o infiltrado inflamatório aumenta no tecido gengival de indivíduos com gengivite crônica, porém, em indivíduos fumantes, observa-se diminuição dessas células.

The smoking habit has been considered by the literature as one of the major risk factors associated to the periodontal diseases. Substances such as nicotine can affect the vascularization, the humoral and cellular immune system. Changes in the number of inflammatory cells can also be observed in patients with chronic gingivitis. In this study we have evaluated 27 samples of gingival tissues that were divided in three groups: the first one contained 10 samples from nonsmokers patients with gingivitis (GNF), the second contained 10 samples from smokers patients with gingivitis (GF) and the last group contained 07 control samples (C) of nonsmoker patients without gingivitis. The biopsies were stained with hematoxylin-eosin and the inflammatory cells were counted and showed the density in cells/mm². The mononuclear cell infiltration was higher in the GNF (137.60 ± 53.18) and GF (91.70 ± 42.59) when compared with group C (12.43 ± 4.24) (p=0.0001 e p=0.002 respectively). When groups with gingivitis were compared to each other, there was a smaller number of inflammatory cells in the group GF (p=0.04). We conclude that there is an increase of the inflammatory infiltrate in the gingival tissue of patients with chronic gingivitis, however, in smokers patients, there in a decrease of those cells.