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Metabolic changes of human dental pulp after rapid palatal expansion
Author(s) -
Wei F. L.,
Geng J.,
Guo J.,
Guo Q. Y.,
Wang H.,
Liu D. X.,
Zhang B. J.,
Wang C. L.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
orthodontics and craniofacial research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1601-6343
pISSN - 1601-6335
DOI - 10.1111/ocr.12021
Subject(s) - pulp (tooth) , metabolic activity , western blot , dentistry , dental pulp stem cells , medicine , chemistry , biochemistry , pathology , physiology , mesenchymal stem cell , gene
Structured Abstract Objectives To investigate rapid palatal expansion ( RPE )–induced metabolic changes in human dental pulp by measuring the expression and activity of aspartate aminotransferase ( AST ). Methods mRNA and protein levels of AST in human dental pulp were measured by quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot, respectively. Furthermore, the activity of AST was measured by a full automatic biochemical analyzer. Results AST mRNA and protein levels were found to be expressed in normal dental pulp. Moreover, the expression of AST was increased significantly after 14 days of RPE and then decreased at 1 month in retention. Three and 6 months after RPE , the AST expression level was gradually decreased to its baseline level. Similarly, AST activity was significantly elevated after 14 days of RPE, which was then down‐regulated at 1 month in retention but was still kept at a higher level as compared with the control group. The enzymatic activity of AST was slowly decreased to its baseline level at 3 and 6 months in retention. Conclusions These results showed that significant reversible metabolic changes occurred in dental pulp during RPE , which revealed the high capacity of the pulp tissue for adaptation to this orthopedic method.