Dentistry and Stomatology Division, Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery Department, Clinical Hospital of Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.
Department of Oral Diagnosis, School of Dentistry of Piracicaba, University of Campinas (FOP/UNICAMP), Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil.
Oral Dis. 2022 May;28(4):1279-1288. doi: 10.1111/odi.13832. Epub 2021 Apr 5.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of BPIFA proteins in the saliva and salivary glands of hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) patients.
This longitudinal study included patients who had undergone autologous HCT (auto-HCT) and allogeneic HCT (allo-HCT), and unstimulated saliva was collected at three time points, with a fourth collection at oral chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) onset. BPIFA expression was analysed by Western blotting in saliva and immunostaining in the minor salivary glands of cGVHD patients.
Auto-HCT patients showed increased levels of BPIFA1 (p = .021) and BPIFA2 at D+7 (p = .040), whereas allo-HCT group demonstrated decreased expression of BPIFA2 at D+8 (p = .002) and at D+80 (p = .001) and a significant association between BPIFA2 low levels and hyposalivation was observed (p = .02). BPIFA2 was significantly lower in the cGVHD patients when compared to baseline (p = .04).
The results of this study show distinct pattern of expression of BPIF proteins in both auto-HCT and allo-HCT recipients with decreased levels of BPIFA2 during hyposalivation and cGVHD. Further studies are necessary to elucidate these proteins mechanisms and their clinical implications in these groups of patients.
本研究旨在评估 BPIFA 蛋白在造血细胞移植（HCT）患者唾液和唾液腺中的表达。
本纵向研究纳入了接受自体 HCT（auto-HCT）和异基因 HCT（allo-HCT）的患者，并在三个时间点采集未刺激的唾液样本，第四个样本采集时间为口腔慢性移植物抗宿主病（cGVHD）发病时。通过 Western blot 分析 cGVHD 患者唾液中的 BPIFA 表达，并通过免疫组化分析小唾液腺中的 BPIFA 表达。
auto-HCT 患者在 D+7 时 BPIFA1 水平升高（p=0.021），BPIFA2 水平升高（p=0.040），而 allo-HCT 组在 D+8 时 BPIFA2 水平降低（p=0.002），在 D+80 时 BPIFA2 水平降低（p=0.001），且 BPIFA2 水平降低与低分泌呈显著相关（p=0.02）。与基线相比，cGVHD 患者的 BPIFA2 水平显著降低（p=0.04）。
本研究结果表明，BPIF 蛋白在自体 HCT 和异基因 HCT 受者中均表现出不同的表达模式，在低分泌和 cGVHD 时 BPIFA2 水平降低。需要进一步研究这些蛋白的机制及其在这些患者群体中的临床意义。
