Receptor Activator NF κB Ligand,Osteoprotegerin and Tumour Necrosis Factor-α Protein Expression in Periodontitis

Objective To ompare the levels of the RANKL, OPG and TNF-α in the granulomatous tissue adjacent to areas of alveolar bone loss from patients with periodontitis with those present in tissue from patients without periodontitis.Methods RANKL,OPG and TNF-α protein expression in the periodontal tissues were analysed using specific monoclonal antibodies,semiquantitative and digital image analysis. Results Semiquantitative image analysis showed that significantly higher levels of RANKL and TNF-α were expressed in the peridontitis tissue. Conversely, OPG was significantly lower in the periodontitis tissues(P0.05).However, OPG was expressed significantly higher in the non-periodontitis tissue, RANKL and TNF-α were expressed significantly lower in the non-periodontitis tissues(P0.05).At the same time, OPG was associated with endothelial cells in periodontal tissues. Conclusion RANKL may be associated with bone loss in the periodontitis. It is suggested that the changes of RANKL and OPG may play an important role in the bone loss found in periodontitis, and TNF-α may co-operate with the alveolar bone loss.