Human Gingival Epithelium Research Articles

The Use of Positive Color Film for the Diagnosis of Periodontal Diseases

The color changes of human gingival epithelia offer an important information for the diagnosis of periodontal diseases. However, if observation is made with the naked eye, it is difficult to express the color correctly because each observer has some individual bias.To prevent this fault in observation, the author devised a method in which the tone of gingival color was interpreted objectively by numerical values.The author remodelled the ophthalmic fundus camera “Kowa RC-2”.The gingiva was photographed on reversal color film, and the light extinction of a specified wave-length through the developed film was measured with an electric spectrophotometer.The extinction curve showed two peaks at 440mμ and 540mμ in gingival photograpes.As the extinction was higher at 440mμ, the measurement of color was hereafter made at this wave-length.The results were as follows.(1) The correlation between the degree of extinction of films and clinical PMA index was very high (γ=0.82).(2) The greatest difference of light extiction between normal and pathological gingivae was found at the papillary and attached gingivae rather than at the alveolar mucosa and muco-gingival junction.(3) In case of intact gingivae, no significant changes in the degree of extinction were observed by usual stimuli such as brushing or eating.(4) The average extinction of buccal gingivae including molar teeth was not different from that of lingual (buccal) gingivae measured by a reflection mirror devised by the author.(5) The values of light reflexion from the standard color paper the light extinction through the color film obtained frow it showed the same tendency. Moreover, the extinction degree method was far more sensitive than the former method.(6) The extinction of color firm paralleled well the pathological conditions of the gingivae.It started to drop after beginning clinical treatment and reached its lowest value after 20 days of treatment.

Endogenous oxygen consumption rates of bovine attached gingiva.

This investigation provided oxygen quotients of slices of bovine whole attached gingiva, the epithelium and the connective tissue. Respiratory measurements were made on an hourly basis for three consecutive hours with Gilmont differential syringe manometers according to the direct Method of Warburg at 37.5 C. Oxygen quotients were calculated on a microliter per milligram of dry tissue per hour basis. Although a very slight but progressive decline in respiratory rate during the 3 hours of observation was noted in the three classes of tissue samples, the values of the oxygen quotients for each hour within each class were remarkably similar. The mean oxygen quotients obtained for slices of whole attached gingiva, epithelium, and connective tissue are 1.56, 2.09 and 0.69, respectively. The oxygen quotient for bovine gingiva is similar to that reported by others for human gingiva but lower than that reported for rat gingiva. The oxygen quotient for the connective tissue is similar to that of bovine slightly dentinogenically active dental pulp. Oxygen quotients calculated on a different basis in another laboratory yielded higher values for human gingival epithelium and connective tissue than are reported here but there is agreement that respiratory activity of the epithelium is about three times as great as that of the connective tissue. The abundance of stroma in the latter could account for the difference, but the oxygen quotients for the two specific types of cells remain to be determined.

The ultrastructure of normal and pathologic human gingival epithelium.

The Journal of PeriodontologyVolume 39, Issue 1 p. 5-8 The Ultrastructure of Normal and Pathologic Human Gingival Epithelium Walter J. Mazzella D.D.S., Walter J. Mazzella D.D.S. Assistant Professor, Department of Periodontics and Endodontics, Georgetown University, School of Dentistry, Washington, D.C.Search for more papers by this authorSanford H. Vernick B.S., M.A., PH.D., Sanford H. Vernick B.S., M.A., PH.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. Present address, Department of Viral Biology, National Cancer Institute, N.I.H., Bethesda, Maryland.Search for more papers by this author Walter J. Mazzella D.D.S., Walter J. Mazzella D.D.S. Assistant Professor, Department of Periodontics and Endodontics, Georgetown University, School of Dentistry, Washington, D.C.Search for more papers by this authorSanford H. Vernick B.S., M.A., PH.D., Sanford H. Vernick B.S., M.A., PH.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. Present address, Department of Viral Biology, National Cancer Institute, N.I.H., Bethesda, Maryland.Search for more papers by this author First published: 01 January 1968 https://doi.org/10.1902/jop.1968.39.1.5Citations: 17 Presented at the I.A.D.R. Meeting, March 16, 1967. AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume39, Issue1January 1968Pages 5-8 RelatedInformation

The langerhans cell in human gingival epithelium

Dendritic cells that stained deeply after gold impregnation were observed in the intermediate cell layers of human gingival epithelium. Ultrastructurally they possessed the rod-like granules that have been described by other workers as characteristic of Langerhans cells in skin. The Langerhans cell possessed neither desmosomes nor tonofibrils and its dendritic form suggests that it may be related to the melanocyte. A few Langerhans cells were observed containing some melanin-like granules. The Langerhans cell may represent a melanocyte that has lost its ability to synthesise melanin and is entering a different and terminal phase of development.

The ultrastructure of the melanocyte in human gingival epithelium

The melanocytes in sixty specimens of normal human gingival epithelium from white (caucasoid) and pigmented (negroid) subjects were examined in the light and electron microscope. These cells resembled the melanocytes described in human epidermis and showed no ultrastructural differences between races except in their melanin granules. These were more numerous and better melanized (denser) in negroids than in caucasoids. Similarly more melanin granules were seen in prickle cells of pigmented gingiva than in that from caucasoids. In the latter, most of the melanin was at the stage of striated granules (melanosomes). The amount of melanin observed in prickle cells decreased between the basal and superficial layers. Melanocytes were never seen superficially and their rarity in the crevicular epithelium was confirmed.

Electron Microscopic Studies of the Normal Human Buccal Mucosa

This study was undertaken in order to describe the fundamental differences between normal skin and the oral mucosa mainly from the standpoint of keratinization.A brief survey of the literature dealing with the human oral mucosa reveals that Sognnaes and Albright (1,2), Fasske and Themann (3), and Zelickson and Hartmann (4) have done electron microscopic work on the human oral epithelium, Listgarten (5) and Kurahashi and Takuma (6) on the human gingival epithelium, Melcher on the oral connective tissue (7), and Frithiof and Wersall on some organelles (8). Until now, however, no electron microscopic work has been done on the posterior buccal mucosa of the human oral cavity, although the anterior buccal mucosa has been studied by Zelickson and Hartmann (4); and there has been no comparative study of the human mucous membrane with either adult or embryonic human skin.In this study it was found that the normal human posterior buccal mucosa is very similar to the immature embryonic epidermis in all aspects; and that despite a complete lack of keratinization, the plasma membranes of the posterior buccal epithelial cells in upper layers become considerably thicker than those of the lower layers, thus suggesting that this thickening process is a phenomenon independent of keratinization.MATERIALS AND METHODSBiopsy specimens were taken from the normal human buccal mucosa, posterior or lateral to thesecond molar tooth, of ten healthy white men and women between the ages of 17 and 50. Five specimens were obtained from the oral lesions of pemphigus vulgaris, and one from the lesion of stomatitis of the posterior buccal mucosa. All specimens were immediately sliced into small pieces, fixed in 1% osmic acid in veronal buffer (pH 7.2) containing 4.5% sucrose. After fixation for one hour, the tissues were dehydrated through a series of graded alcohols and propylene oxide, and were embedded in Araldite. Thin sections were then cut with an LKB Ultrotome at 400-600 A. The sections were stained first with 1% uranyl acetate in 50% etha-nol, and then, before completely dried, re-stained with lead citrate (9). Some specimens were stained for acid phosphatase before osmic acid fixation using the method of Barka and Anderson (10).RESULTSBasement membrane and basal layer. The basement membrane measured approximately 600 A in thickness. Occasionally, phagocytes, lymphocytes, and leukocytes were seen crossing the basement membrane (Fig. 1). In such areas the subepithelial reticular fibrils were thick, and re-duplication of the basement membrane, as reported by Caulfield and Wilgram in erythema multiforme (11), was observed (Fig. 1). The basal cells here contained fewer tonofilaments than the epidermal basal cells (Fig. 1). Intercellular spaces were rather wide, with numerous slender villi of the basal cells projecting into them (Fig. 1). Some basal melanocytes contained well-developed, rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum and were actively producing all gradients of maturation of melanin granules in their melanosomes (Fig. 2). The dendritic processes of these melanocytes, found between the basal cells and squamous cells, contained a greater number of more mature (larger and denser) melanin granules than did the body of the melanocytes. This phenomenon can be explained by assuming that the melanocytes inject their melanin granules into the surrounding cells as soon as the granules reach maturity. The basal cells and the squamous cells contained varying numbers of injected melanin granules (Fig. 2).As the basal cells moved up into the squamous512ULTRASTRUCTURES OF THE BUCCAL MUCOSA513*-i

Mucous-cell metaplasia in human gingival epithelium and its relation to certain mucous secreting tumours.

Mucous-cell metaplasia of non-neoplastic skin and mucous membrane has not hitherto been recorded. Six cases of such metaplasia are described in cystic epithelial bodies in human gingiva and apparently of surface origin. The significance of this occurrence is discussed in relation to similar metaplasia in odontogenic cysts and certain mucus-secreting tumours.