title: Differential gene expression of human beta-defensins (hBD-1, -2, -3) in inflammatory gingival diseases.
abstract: Antimicrobial peptides, like human beta-defensins, play an important role in the epithelial innate defense response. The aim of the present study was to investigate the quantitative expression of human beta-defensin-1, -2, and -3 in inflammatory gingival diseases. Gingival biopsies were obtained from patients with healthy gingiva (n = 10), patients with gingivitis (n = 10), and patients with periodontitis (n = 10). The clinical diagnosis was verified by histology. Gingival tissues were used for RNA extraction followed by reverse transcription. Gene expression was quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction (normalization with GAP-DH). Comparing the tissues with different clinical stages of health and disease, no significant differences in mRNA expression were found for any of the beta-defensins studied. Similar levels of expression were found in healthy gingiva, whereas in gingivitis samples there was a significantly higher expression of hBD-2 compared to hBD-1 (P = 0.004) and hBD-3 (P = 0.016). Likewise, in periodontitis samples, hBD-2 expression was significantly higher than hBD-1 (P = 0.016); however, hBD-2 expression was comparable to hBD-3. In conclusion, the results of the present study showed a differential expression of human beta-defensins (hBD-1, -2, -3) in tissues with inflammatory gingival disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Operative and Preventive Dentistry, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany. Henrik.Dommisch@ukb.uni-bonn.de
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dommisch
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Açil
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dunsche
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Winter
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jepsen
mesh_terms: D023082:Defensins / Q000032:analysis*; D015870:Gene Expression; D005891:Gingivitis / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D010518:Periodontitis / Q000378:metabolism*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D023083:beta-Defensins / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: C406407:DEFB1 protein, human; C106641:DEFB4A protein, human; D023082:Defensins; D023083:beta-Defensins