Composition of immunocompetent gingival epithelial cell in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

The influence of somatic pathology on oral cavity diseases particulary periodontal tissues is of great interest of dentists due to difficulty of diagnosis, frequent recurrences and lack of treatment standards. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and coronary heart disease (CHD) are higly often comorbid with lesions of periodontal complex. These somatic diseases are not only the most leading causes of disability in patients but they are also characterized by development of systemic hypoxia, which supresses regenerative and reparative processes in periodontal tissues.Objective — to study immunocompetent gum cells in patients with cardiopulmonary pathology.Materials and methods. We examined 239 patients with verified diagnosis of COPD and CHD: the main group — 130 patients with COPD comorbid with CHD, comparison group N 1 — 38 patients with COPD, and comparison group N 2 — 71 patients diagnosed with CHD. We performed clinical dental examination and scraping from a surface of gum epithelium to study the cellular composition (neutrophils, monocytes, lymphocytes). А relative amount of immunocompetent cells with CD4+, CD8+, CD4+/CD8+, CD16+, CD54+, CD95+ markers has been indentified using the indirect immunocytochemical peroxidase method.Results and discussion. COPD, CHD and periodontitis are mutually complicating diseases. Typing of gum leukocytes on the expression of differentiation clusters (CD markers) on their surface made it possible to establish that the percentage of CD4+ cells (T helper-inducers) — 44,00 [39,00; 48,00] and CD8+ cells (cytotoxic T-lymphocytes) — 27,00 [23,00; 31,25], in all study groups, the specific weight of natural killers (CD16+) was increased. Typical feature of patients with COPD and COPD in combination with CHD is high level of leukocyte infiltration of the gingival epithelium and high expression of immune cells.Сonclusions. The changes in periodontal tissues change the ratio of T-­cell populations with predomi­nance of T-­killers. A detailed study of the components of pathogenesis in this category of patients will allow us to develop required correction methods and stabilize the progression of pathological changes in the periodontium.