Differential gene expression of human β-defensins (hBD-1, -2, -3) in inflammatory gingival diseases

Antimicrobial peptides, like human beta-defensins, play an important role in the epithelial innate defense response. The aim of the present study was to investigate the quantitative expression of human beta-defensin-1, -2, and -3 in inflammatory gingival diseases. Gingival biopsies were obtained from patients with healthy gingiva (n = 10), patients with gingivitis (n = 10), and patients with periodontitis (n = 10). The clinical diagnosis was verified by histology. Gingival tissues were used for RNA extraction followed by reverse transcription. Gene expression was quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction (normalization with GAP-DH). Comparing the tissues with different clinical stages of health and disease, no significant differences in mRNA expression were found for any of the beta-defensins studied. Similar levels of expression were found in healthy gingiva, whereas in gingivitis samples there was a significantly higher expression of hBD-2 compared to hBD-1 (P = 0.004) and hBD-3 (P = 0.016). Likewise, in periodontitis samples, hBD-2 expression was significantly higher than hBD-1 (P = 0.016); however, hBD-2 expression was comparable to hBD-3. In conclusion, the results of the present study showed a differential expression of human beta-defensins (hBD-1, -2, -3) in tissues with inflammatory gingival disease.