Journal of Dental Research, Vol 71, 475-477, Copyright © 1992 by International & American Associations for Dental Research Online Journals
Immunohistochemical evidence for the occurrence of endothelin in the vascular endothelium of normal and inflamed human dental pulp
A. Casasco, M. Casasco, M. Ciuffreda, D. R. Springall, A. Calligaro, S. Bianchi and J. M. Polak
Institute of Histology and Embryology, University of Pavia, Italy.
The occurrence and distribution of the regulatory peptide endothelin in
normal and inflamed human dental pulp was studied by immunocytochemistry.
Endothelial cells in both normal and inflamed pulp displayed
endothelin-like immunoreactivity. Neither pulp cells nor dental nerves were
immunoreactive. No significant change in the distribution of endothelin
immunoreactivity could be detected in the samples of inflamed pulp tissue,
the immunoreactive material being detectable only within the endothelium.
However, the intensity of the immunostaining was less intense in the
samples of inflamed pulp. It is reasonable to presume that endothelin,
produced and released locally by endothelial cells, may participate via a
paracrine mechanism in the regulation of blood pressure and flow in normal
and pathological human dental tissues.
