Expression of endothelin-1 in gingival epithelial cells

Abstract

The present study aimed to clarify a hypothesis that endothelin-1 (ET-1) would relate to the inflammation of periodontium, so that ET-1 presence and location in human gingival tissues and the ET-1 expression of KB cells were examined. As a result of immunohistochemistry of human gingival tissue sections, the expression of ET-1 in inflamed gingival tissues was increasing in the gingival epithelial cells and vascular endothelial cells compared to uninflamed tissues. After KB cells were cultured with P. gingivalis, the expression of ET-1 was examined using RT-PCR and ELISA. Compared to KB cells cultured without P. gingivalis, ET-1 mRNA levels of the KB cells and ET-1 protein expression in the supernatants were significantly greater in the cells with P. gingivalis. The present study indicated that ET-1 was increasing in inflamed periodontal tissues, therefore, it was suggested that ET-1 expression in the gingival epithelial cell associated with the inflammation of periodntium.