Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-03T15:38:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 BrunaRMS_TESE.pdf: 1789056 bytes, checksum: 3971348cc480ce2ec7b8b377a649483e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-02-17 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / Periodontal disease is an inflammatory condition of infectious nature characterized by destruction of protecting and supporting dental tissues. It happens as a response produced by the host when attacked by microorganisms. Several factors are involved in this process. Among them, cytokines are key regulatory molecules in this immune response, playing a role either protective and/or destructive in lesion progression. Thus, this study investigated the immunohistochemical expression of IFN- , GATA-3, IL-17, IL-23, IL-6 and TGF- in gingival tissues of humans, in an attempt to gain a better understanding of the participation of Th1, Th2 and Th17 immune responses in the development of periodontal disease processes. To this end, eighty-two samples of gingival tissues were divided into three groups: Group 1 = 15 (samples of healthy gum tissue as controls), Group 2 = 36 (samples with chronic gingivitis) and Group 3 = 31 (samples with chronic periodontitis). All cases were submitted to morphological analysis from sections stained with hematoxylin and eosin and then subjected to staining by immunohistochemistry using the streptavidin-biotin method. Results showed positive labeling for all proteins. Nonetheless, we observed a greater expression of Th1 cytokines and Th17 cells in group 3. We found statistically significant difference between TGF- expression and the clinical condition of the samples (p=0.02). We conclude that Th1 and Th17 responses may act synergistically in the destructive process of periodontal tissue, overlapping the Th2 response that was also present in these tissues / A doen?a periodontal ? uma condi??o inflamat?ria de car?ter infeccioso, caracterizada pela destrui??o dos tecidos de prote??o e sustenta??o dent?rios, face ? resposta produzida pelo hospedeiro frente ?s agress?es sofridas pelos microrganismos. V?rios fatores est?o envolvidos nesse processo, sendo as citocinas as principais mol?culas reguladoras dessa resposta imune, desempenhando um papel protetor e/ou destrutivo na progress?o da les?o. Diante disso, este experimento investigou a express?o imuno-histoqu?mica de IFN- , GATA-3, IL-17, IL-23, IL-6 e TGF- em tecidos gengivais de humanos, na tentativa de se obter um maior entendimento da participa??o das respostas imunes Th1, Th2 e Th17 no desenvolvimento destes processos patol?gicos. Para tanto, oitenta e duas amostras de tecidos gengivais foram subdivididas em tr?s grupos: Grupo 1=15 (amostras de tecido gengival saud?vel-controle), Grupo 2=36 (amostras com gengivite cr?nica) e Grupo 3=31 (amostras com periodontite cr?nica). Todos os casos foram submetidos ? an?lise morfol?gica a partir de cortes corados em hematoxilina e eosina e, posteriormente, submetidas ? t?cnica de colora??o pela imuno-histoqu?mica atrav?s do m?todo da Estreptoavidina-Biotina. Os resultados mostraram positividade de marca??o para todas as prote?nas, sendo observada uma maior tend?ncia de marca??o para as citocinas das respostas Th1 e Th17 no grupo 3. Diferen?a estatisticamente significativa foi verificada entre a express?o de TGF- e a condi??o cl?nica das amostras (p=0,02). Assim, podemos concluir que as respostas Th1 e Th17 podem atuar sinergicamente no processo destrutivo dos tecidos periodontais, sobrepondo-se ? resposta Th2 que tamb?m se encontrou presente nestes tecidos