El Karim Ikhlas A, Lamey Philip-John, Ardill Joy, Linden Gerard J, Lundy Fionnuala T
Oral Science Research Centre, School of Dentistry, Queen's University, Grosvenor Road, Belfast, BT12 6BP Northern Ireland, UK.
Arch Oral Biol. 2006 Oct;51(10):849-55. doi: 10.1016/j.archoralbio.2006.04.009. Epub 2006 Jun 27.
To quantitatively measure VIP levels and to qualitatively study the distribution of VIP fibres and demonstrate the presence of the VPAC1 receptor in human dental pulp from carious and non-carious adult human teeth.
Dental pulp samples were collected from non-carious, moderately carious and grossly carious adult human teeth. VIP levels were determined using radioimmunoassay. The distribution of VIP fibres was studied using immunohistochemistry. The VPAC1 receptor protein expression was determined by Western blotting.
VIP levels were found to be significantly elevated in the dental pulp of moderately carious compared with non-carious (p=0.0032) or grossly carious teeth (p=0.0029). The distribution of VIP fibres was similar in non-carious and carious teeth, except that nerve bundles appeared thicker in the pulp samples from carious compared with non-carious teeth. Western blotting indicated that the VPAC1 receptor proteins were detected in similar levels in pooled dental pulp samples from both carious and non-carious teeth.
It is concluded that quantitative changes in the levels of VIP in human dental pulp during the caries process and the expression of VPAC1 receptor proteins in membrane extracts from carious and non-carious teeth suggests a role for VIP in modulating pulpal health and disease.
定量测量血管活性肠肽（VIP）水平，定性研究VIP纤维的分布，并证明成人龋齿和非龋齿牙髓中VPAC1受体的存在。
从成人非龋齿、中度龋齿和重度龋齿牙齿中采集牙髓样本。使用放射免疫分析法测定VIP水平。采用免疫组织化学方法研究VIP纤维的分布。通过蛋白质免疫印迹法测定VPAC1受体蛋白表达。
发现中度龋齿牙髓中的VIP水平与非龋齿（p=0.0032）或重度龋齿牙齿（p=0.0029）相比显著升高。非龋齿和龋齿牙齿中VIP纤维的分布相似，只是与非龋齿牙齿相比，龋齿牙髓样本中的神经束显得更粗。蛋白质免疫印迹法表明，在龋齿和非龋齿牙齿的混合牙髓样本中检测到的VPAC1受体蛋白水平相似。
得出结论，在龋病过程中人类牙髓中VIP水平的定量变化以及龋齿和非龋齿牙齿膜提取物中VPAC1受体蛋白的表达表明VIP在调节牙髓健康和疾病中起作用。
