Immunohistochemical Study of Phenotypes of Dendritic Cells in Dental Pulps from Non-Carious and Carious Teeth

IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL STUDY OF PHENOTYPES OF DENDRITIC CELLS IN DENTAL PULPS FROM NON-CARIOUS AND CARIOUS TEETH By Melissa A. Harmon, DDS A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Dentistry at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2007 Major Director: Karan J. Replogle, DDS, MS Chair, Department of Endodontics Mature dendritic cells (DCs) in inflamed tissues may promote inflammation but the status of DCs in pulpitis is not known. We hypothesized that DC maturation would correlate with carious lesion depth and that CD4+ cells would be found in association with mature DCs. Pulps were collected from teeth exhibiting: (I) no caries (n=9), (II) shallow dentinal caries (n=5), and (III) deep caries (n=9). Pulpal tissues were cryo-sectioned and positive cells were examined with immunohistochemistry, Mature DCs (CD83+) were almost exclusively restricted to pulps from deep caries. Furthermore, CD209+ DCs in deep