Vascular endothelial growth factor in minor salivary glands: effect of ageing.
Morphological and physiological age changes are described in human salivary glands. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is neoangiogenic growth factor found in normal salivary glands. Considering the neoangiogenic properties of VEGF and its important function in inflammation, repair and, probably, in oral mucosa homeostasis, the purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of ageing on the immunolocalization of VEGF in minor salivary glands. Paraffin-embedded tissue blocks containing normal labial salivary glands were retrieved and classified according to the patients' age in two groups (< 20 and > 40-year-old). The biotin-streptavidin-peroxidase system was used to detect the VEGF antigen. The results demonstrated that the mean level of VEGF immunoreaction in the young group was not statistically different from the old group when compared by the Mann-Whitney U-test (P = 0.54). This may indicate that although salivary flow reduction may develop in old patients, some properties of the salivary glands may not be affected.
de Oliveira
L A M
LA
Department of Oral Surgery and Pathology, School of Dentistry, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte-MG, Brasil.
de Oliveira Vasconcelos
F
F
Gomez
R S
RS
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D043925:Angiogenesis Inducing Agents / Q000032:analysis; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008046:Lip / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000378:metabolism; D008222:Lymphokines / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016612:Paraffin Embedding; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000032:analysis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018987:Salivary Ducts / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000378:metabolism; D012470:Salivary Glands, Minor / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000378:metabolism*; D012471:Salivary Proteins and Peptides / Q000032:analysis*; D012472:Salivation / Q000502:physiology; D012636:Secretory Rate / Q000502:physiology; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D042442:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors
D043925:Angiogenesis Inducing Agents; D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors; D008222:Lymphokines; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D012471:Salivary Proteins and Peptides; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D042442:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors