Primordial odontogenic tumor with prominent calcifications

Primordial odontogenic tumor (POT) is a rare mixed odontogenic tumor composed of primitive ectomesenchyme similar to the dental papilla. The outer surface consists of columnar/cuboidal odontogenic epithelium similar to the inner enamel epithelium, and there is no hard tissue formation. Until now, 27 cases have been reported in the English literature. This article describes the clinicopathological characteristics of one case of POT, representing the oldest patient (aged 26 years) reported to date.

[Soluble programmed death-1 and soluble programmed death ligand 1 protein expression and immune status in patients with recurrent aphthous ulcer]

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to investigate the possible role and significance of soluble programmed death-1 (sPD-1)  /soluble programmed death ligand 1 (sPD-L1) in the immune pathogeneses of recurrent aphthous ulcer (RAU).

METHODS

A total of 30 RAU cases (18 cases of minor RAU, 5 cases of major RAU, and 7 cases of herpetiform ulcers) were enrolled in this study. A total of 18 healthy people served as controls. Lymphocyte subsets (CD3⁺, CD4⁺, CD8⁺, CD19⁺, and CD16⁺+56⁺) were investigated by flow cytometric analysis. Humoral immunity (IgG, IgA, IgM, C3, and C4) was explored by nephelometry immunoassay. The sPD-1 and sPD-L1 protein levels in the sera of RAU patients were investigated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The correlations of the sPD-1 and sPD-L1 protein levels with the immune status and clinical characteristics of the RAU patients were analyzed by SPSS 19.0.

RESULTS

The number of CD4+ T cells decreased and the levels of IgM antibodies increased in the RAU patients relative to those in the normal controls (P<0.05). The sPD-1 and sPD-L1 protein levels in the RAU patients were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). Meanwhile, the sPD-1 and sPD-L1 protein levels in the patients with minor and major RAU were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). By contrast, no significant difference was found in the patients with herpetiform RAU (P>0.05). Positive correlations were noted between the sPD-1 protein level and the CD19+ cell frequency or C4 level (r₁=0.389, P₁=0.034; r₂=0.382, P₂=0.037).

CONCLUSIONS

Cellular immune hypofunction and humoral immunity disorders were found in the RAU patients. The PD-1/PD-L1 signaling pathway, which might be influenced by the involvement of sPD-1 and sPD-L1 proteins to a certain extent, may play some roles in the immune pathogenesis of RAU.