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Published on: August 6, 2019
Cytomegalovirus-infected inflammatory cells in dental periapical lesions
M Sabeti1, A Daneshmand, J H Simon
1Department of Endodontics, University of Southern California, School of Dentistry, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0641, USA.
Introduction:
As cytomegalovirus may be etiologically involved in periapical pathosis of endodontic origin, this study aimed to determine the cellular source of periapical cytomegalovirus.
Methods:
Periapical granulomatous tissue was collected from 15 extracted teeth with symptomatic periapical lesions. Multi-color flow cytometry was used to identify cytomegalovirus-infected cells.
Results:
Cytomegalovirus infection was identified in 10 of the 15 (67%) study lesions, and in periapical monocytes/macrophages (40% of lesions) and T lymphocytes (54% of lesions), but not in periapical B lymphocytes.
Conclusion:
This study and previous polymerase chain reaction-based investigations show that cytomegalovirus is a frequent inhabitant of symptomatic periapical lesions.
