title: Alkaline phosphatase activity in normal and inflamed dental pulps.
abstract: Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) seems to be important in the formation of mineralized tissues. High levels of ALP have been demonstrated in dental pulp cells. In the present study ALP activity was analyzed in normal healthy human dental pulps, in reversible pulpitis, and in irreversible pulpitis. Enzymatic ALP control values for the normal healthy pulps were 110.96+/-20.93. In the reversible pulpitis specimens the ALP activity increased almost eight times to 853.6+/-148.27. In the irreversible pulpitis specimens the values decreased sharply to 137.15+/-21.28 and were roughly equivalent to those seen in normal healthy pulps. The differences between the groups (control vs. reversible pulpitis and reversible pulpitis vs. irreversible pulpitis) were statistically significant. These results could point to a role of ALP in the initial pulp response after injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemical Sciences, Dental School, University of Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Spoto
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fioroni
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rubini
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tripodi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Di Stilio
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Piattelli
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000032:analysis*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003782:Dental Pulp / Q000201:enzymology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008264:Macrophages / Q000201:enzymology; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000201:enzymology; D011671:Pulpitis / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D013053:Spectrophotometry; D013223:Statistics as Topic
chemical_list: D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase