IMMUNE CELL PROFILE OF DENTAL PULP IN RATS TREATED WITH ZOLEDRONIC ACID

Abstract

The objective of this study was to characterize the pulp immune cell profile in the teeth of rats treated with Zoledronic Acid (ZA). For this Male Wistar rats (n=6) received 4 intravenous infusions of ZA (0.04, 0.20 or 1.00 mg/kg) or saline. In the 70th day, they were euthanized. The first right molar was microscopically examined (H&E, toluidine blue and immunohistochemistry for CD68, Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF)-α, Interleukin(IL)-1β, Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase (iNOS), Nuclear Factor kappa B (NFkB) and IL-18 binding protein (IL-18bp). Were analyzed the ectasic/dilated vessels, the inflammatory cells (mast cells and mononuclear CD68 positive cells) and intensity of immunostaining for inflammatory markers in odontoblasts and non-odontoblasts pulp cells. Were used the Kruskall-Wallis/Dunn's and the chi-square tests (P<.05). There is no differences in number of animals exhibiting dilated/ectasia blood vessels (P=.242), inflammatory cells (P=.489) and in the number of mast cells (P=1.000). However, there was an augment of CD68 positive cells (P=.026), immunostaining of TNF-α (P=.020), IL-1β (P=.027), iNOS (P=.001) in odontoblasts and IL-1β (P=.027) in non-odontoblasts pulp cells dose-dependently. NFkB (nucleus and cytoplasm) and IL-18bp did not differ between groups. It was showed that ZA modified the immune cell profile in the dental pulp independent of NFkB.