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Updated: Apr 28, 2026

Isolation, Processing and Analysis of Murine Gingival Cells
Published on: July 2, 2013
Mechanism of drug-induced gingival overgrowth revisited: a unifying hypothesis
1Division of Oral Diagnosis, Department of Comprehensive Dentistry, Howard University College of Dentistry, Washington, DC, USA; Department of Otolaryngology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA; Hematology Branch, NHLBI/NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Abstract:
Drug-induced gingival overgrowth (DIGO) is a disfiguring side effect of anti-convulsants, calcineurin inhibitors, and calcium channel blocking agents. A unifying hypothesis has been constructed which begins with cation flux inhibition induced by all three of these drug categories. Decreased cation influx of folic acid active transport within gingival fibroblasts leads to decreased cellular folate uptake, which in turn leads to changes in matrix metalloproteinases metabolism and the failure to activate collagenase. Decreased availability of activated collagenase results in decreased degradation of accumulated connective tissue which presents as DIGO. Studies supporting this hypothesis are discussed.
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