title: Age-related Changes in the Alkaline Phosphatase Activity of Healthy and Inflamed Human Dental Pulp.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) plays an important role in inducing mineralization events in the dental pulp. This study investigated and compared the ALP levels in healthy and inflamed pulp in young and old human pulp.
  
  
  METHODS
  Tissue samples were collected from young (<30 years) and old (>60 years) donors. In both age groups, healthy human pulp (n = 18) were collected from extracted wisdom teeth. For reversible and irreversible pulpitis, pulp samples (n = 18 each) were obtained during endodontic treatment. ALP activity was assessed by spectrophotometry and immunhistochemistry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Regardless of age, reversible pulpitis group samples showed a slight elevation in ALP activity compared with normal healthy pulp. In elderly patients, ALP expression with irreversible pulpitis was significantly higher than those with a healthy pulp (P < .05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the hyperemic state, both the young and old pulp shows a slight increase in ALP activity, whereas in irreversible pulpitis, only the old pulp shows significantly elevated ALP levels. Such an increase may trigger calcification events, which may eventually cause difficulties in endodontic treatment procedures in elderly individuals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Eda E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Aslantas
authors.affiliation: Department of Endodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hatice Dogan
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Buzoglu
authors.affiliation: Department of Endodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Senem Pinar
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Karapinar
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Zafer C
authors.initials: ZC
authors.lastname: Cehreli
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sevda
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Muftuoglu
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Pergin
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Atilla
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. Electronic address: yaseminb@hacettepe.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Yasemin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Aksoy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000378:metabolism*; D003782:Dental Pulp / Q000201:enzymology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011671:Pulpitis / Q000201:enzymology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase
keywords: Aging; alkaline phosphatase; biomineralization; dental pulp; pulp inflammation