Correction: Oral leukoplakia, a clinical-histopathological study in 412 patients

[This corrects the article on p. 426 in vol. 13, PMID: 33981388.].

Serum levels of RANKL and OPG, and the RANKL/OPG ratio in bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw: Are they useful biomarkers for the advanced stages of osteonecrosis?

Background

We determined whether serum levels of Receptor Activator for Nuclear Factor κ B Ligand (RANKL), Osteoprotegerin (OPG), and the RANKL/OPG ratio could be useful biomarkers for the severity of oral lesions in bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (BRONJ).

Material and Methods

A case-control study in which Group 1 consisted of 41 patients with BRONJ due to intravenous bisphosphonates, and Group 2 consisted of 44 healthy control cases. The plasma levels of RANKL and OPG were analyzed by an ELISA assay. The OPG/RANKL ratio was also calculated. We determined if the mean serum values differed among the different stages of BRONJ.

Results

Serum levels of RANKL were lower in Group 1 than in Group 2 (p =0.01), and serum levels of OPG were higher in patients with BRONJ than in the controls (p =0.006). The ratio of RANKL/OPG was greater in the controls than in Group 1 (P >0.01). There were no significant differences in the serum levels of RANKL and OPG among the different stages of osteonecrosis (P > 0.05).

Conclusions

Serum levels of RANKL and OPG, and the RANKL/OPG ratio were not valuable biomarkers for determining the severity of oral lesions in patients with BRONJ.

Key words:Bisphosphonates, RANKL, OPG, Osteonecrosis.

Optimization of the surface properties of nanostructured Ni–W alloys on steel by a mixed silane layer

Optimization of the surface properties of nanostructured Ni–W coatings on steel by a mixed silane layer.

Immunohistochemical identification of TGF-beta1 at the maxillaries in growing Sprague-Dawley rats and after muscle section

Growth factors are currently being extensively studied in the literature to ascertain their role during maxillofacial development. Taking into account that few investigations refer to the functions of growth in the maxillaries, our aim was to identify the TGF-beta1 immunohistochemical expression pattern in the maxillaries of growing rats. A secondary aim was to identify this pattern after orofacial function inhibition by muscle section. In the palate and the mandibular symphysis and body, we found that bone was formed through an endomembranous pathway with intense TGF-beta1 staining inside chondroid cells during the maximum development stages. At the midpalatal suture and the mandibular symphysis and condyle, endochondral ossification was detected with an intense expression of TGF-beta1 inside the chondrocytes when major growth occurred. After the muscle had been sectioned, at the mandible the maturation process was accelerated, this change being transitory until muscular function was recovered. However, at the palate, the intervention caused a greater disturbance of the growing pattern, which did not recover normality.