title: Correlation of mast cells in different stages of human periodontal diseases: Pilot study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to evaluate and correlate the relationship between mast cells counts and different stages of human periodontal diseases.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study sample comprised 50 patients, which were divided into three groups, consisting of 10 cases of clinically healthy gingival tissues (control group) 20 cases of dental plaque-induced gingivitis with no attachment loss and 20 cases of localized chronic periodontitis (LCP) characterized by the loss of periodontal support. The samples for control group were obtained during tooth extractions for orthodontic reasons. The specimens were immediately fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, LCP cases had higher mast cell counts compared to gingivitis sites or healthy tissues. Increased mast cell counts in the progressing sites of periodontal diseases may indicate the importance of these cells in the progression of chronic periodontitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology and Implantology, Sardar Patel Institute of Dental and Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Raina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Agrawal
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Sardar Patel Institute of Dental and Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Jagriti
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology and Implantology, Sardar Patel Institute of Dental and Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Krishna Kumar
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology and Implantology, Sardar Patel Institute of Dental and Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Vinod
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kumar
keywords: Inflammation; mast cells; periodontal disease