title: Epidermal growth factor in saliva and serum of patients with cyclosporin-induced gingival overgrowth.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the presence of epidermal growth factor (EGF) in patients receiving cyclosporin therapy who had gingival overgrowth and to determine whether there were any differences between these patients and normal healthy controls. Seventeen patients with cyclosporin-induced gingival overgrowth and seventeen age- and sex-matched controls who were taking cyclosporin but had healthy gingiva were used for this study. Unstimulated whole saliva was collected from all individuals by expectoration. Gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) was also collected from all individuals. Blood was additionally collected from all subjects and serum was separated by keeping the samples overnight at 4 degrees C. EGF levels in all cases were measured by an ELISA assay. EGF concentrations were found to be significantly higher in the saliva of patients with cyclosporin-induced gingival overgrowth compared to the control group (401.2 +/- 31.1 pg/ml and 144.3 +/- 31.4 pg/ml, respectively), whereas the results were reversed in the serum (67.0 +/- 15.6 pg/ml and 141.6 +/- 17.7 pg/ml, respectively). EGF was not detected in the samples of GCF in either group. This study thus demonstrated an increase in EGF levels in the saliva and a decrease of EGF in the serum of patients with cyclosporin-induced gingival overgrowth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Medicine/Pathology, School of Dentistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. anmark@med.auth.gr
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Markopoulos
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Belazi
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Drakoulakos
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Petrou-Americanou
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sioulis
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sakellari
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Papanayotou
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003774:Dental Plaque Index; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005883:Gingival Crevicular Fluid / Q000737:chemistry; D005884:Gingival Hemorrhage / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism; D019214:Gingival Overgrowth / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D017622:Periodontal Attachment Loss / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism; D010512:Periodontal Index; D010514:Periodontal Pocket / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor; D016572:Cyclosporine