Journal of Dental Research, Vol 57, 329-333, Copyright © 1978 by International & American Associations for Dental Research Online Journals
Metabolism of gingival collagen in a rat
W. A. Orlowski
The remodeling of gingival tissue was measured by determining the
incorporation of tritiated proline and the disappearance of tritium
activity from proline and hydroxyproline for 18 days after administration
of label. There was a rapid decrease in the tritium activity from gingiva
which was paralleled by a decrease in the total activity of proline. The
activity in collagen decreased sharply between the second and the fourth
day but thereafter there was no change. The relative amount of activity
increased from 24% at day 2 to 82% at 18 days postinjection, and as a
result the specific activities of hydroxyproline and proline were similar
after 12 days. Thus collagen appeared to be the more stable component in
the gingivae than previously reported. However, the rapid loss of label in
the first four days suggested that there may be very marked regional
variation in the metabolism of collagen and that more than one metabolic
pool of collagen was present.
