The effect of hydrocortisone on the concentration and synthesis of acid mucopolysaccharides in the rat gingiva

Periodontitis modified by systemic factors

Microbial dental plaque is the initiator of periodontal disease but whether it affects a particular subject, what form the disease takes, and how it progresses, are all dependent on the host defenses to this challenge. Systemic factors modify all forms periodontitis principally through their effects on the normal immune and inflammatory defenses. Some good examples of this effect exist such as when there is a reduction in number or function of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) that may result in an increased rate and severity of periodontal destruction. Many other systemic factors are much less clear cut and are difficult to causally link to periodontitis. In many cases the literature is insufficient to make definite statements on links between systemic factors and periodontitis. It is also at times difficult to be precise regarding the causative agent in systemic exposures such as smoking and even prescribed drug therapy. The possible role of systemic diseases and systemic exposures in initiating or modifying the progress of periodontal disease is clearly a complex issue. It is however generally agreed that several conditions may give rise to an increased prevalence, incidence, or severity of gingivitis and periodontitis. The categorization of the systemic modifying factors causing periodontitis and the evidence to support the role of these factors are the focus of this review. An attempt has been made to consider the conditions under broad headings, but it will be clear that many conditions fall within more than one category and that for several conditions only case reports exist whereas in other areas an extensive literature is present.

Biochemistry of glycosaminoglycans in the skin and oral mucosa of the rat

Glycosaminoglycans (GAG) were extracted by digestion with papain followed by ultrafiltration and separated by cellulose-acetate electrophoresis and by chromatography of their cetyl-pyridinium complexes on cellulose microcolumns. The uronic-acid content of the tissues ranged from 0.8 to 2.4 mg/g of dry defatted tissue. Hyaluronic acid and dermatan sulphate were found in all tissues with chondroitin-4-sulphate also in skin, palatal mucosa and gingiva. There was 3-fold more hyaluronic acid in palatal mucosa than in any other tissue; it was concentrated in the antemolar rugae. A substance of presumptive salivary origin staining with alcian blue was found in cheek and floor of mouth mucosa. It migrated differently from reference GAG by electrophoresis and was not degraded by testicular hyaluronidase.

Radioautography of dexamethasone in rabbit gingiva and buccal mucosa

The localization of 3H-dexamethasone in gingiva and in buccal mucosa was investigated radioautographically after systemic administration of the labeled glucocorticoid to rabbits. Tissue samples were processed for dry radioautography of diffusible substances. This study demonstrates localization of 3H-dexamethasone in the nuclei of target cells in the gingival epithelium, stromata, and the walls of blood vessels, and to a lesser degree in the buccal mucosa cells. The findings support the possibility of a direct effect of glucocorticoids via specific hormone cytosol-nuclear receptors in oral tissues.

Bovine periodontal ligament. An invesitation of the collagen, glycosaminoglycan and insoluble glycoprotein components at different stages of tissue development

Periodontal ligaments from unerupted, partially erupted and mature teeth were extracted with 0.15 M NaCl. The major reducible collagen cross-link in each insoluble fraction was dehydrodihydroxylysinonorleucine; the dehydroydroxylysinonorleucine contents were smaller. There was no significant difference in the quantities of these cross-links relative to collagen contents in the three speciments, but one of the precursors, hydroxyallysine, markedly decreased in the older tissue. The amino acid compositions of the trypsin-resistant insoluble fractions were generally characteristic of collagen. Analyses of separated glycopeptides revealed the presence of insoluble non-collagenous glycoproteins and collagen hexoses. The latter were lower in the mature ligament. Hyaluronic acid progressively decreased relative to chondroitin sulphate on eruption and maturation. A hyaluronidase-resistant glycosaminoglycan, probably dermatan sulphate, occurred in the NaCl-insoluble fraction of the mature ligament and in appreciable amounts in all NaCl extracts.