title: Role of beta-defensins in oral epithelial health and disease.
abstract: The oral epithelium functions as a mechanical and protective barrier to resist bacterial infection. beta-Defensins are a group of antimicrobial peptides mainly produced by epithelial cells of many organs including skin, lung, kidney, pancreas, uterus, eye, and nasal and oral mucosa. This review focuses on beta-defensins (BDs) in oral epithelia and discusses their importance in oral epithelial health and disease. BDs exhibit antimicrobial activity against oral microbes including periodontitis-related bacteria, Candida, and papilloma virus. Alterative expression of BDs was observed in oral epithelial diseases, including oral inflammatory lesions with and without microbial infection and oral cancer. BDs may be useful in the treatment of oral infectious diseases, ulcerative lesions, and cancer. BDs play an important role in protection against oral microbes and may be used in clinical applications.
authors: Department of Dental Science, Division of Oral Medicine and Pathology, Institute of Personalized Medical Science, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, 2-5 Ainosato, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. yoshi-ab@hoku-iryo-u.ac.jp
authors: Yoshihiro
authors: Y
authors: Abiko
authors: Masto
authors: M
authors: Saitoh
authors: Michiko
authors: M
authors: Nishimura
authors: Mami
authors: M
authors: Yamazaki
authors: Daisuke
authors: D
authors: Sawamura
authors: Tohru
authors: T
authors: Kaku
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004194:Disease; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006262:Health; D006801:Humans; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000473:pathology*; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D023083:beta-Defensins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D023083:beta-Defensins