Quantification of tryptase and T-cell immunoglobulin mucin 1 double-positive mast cells in different degrees of human periodontitis

AIM：To examine the expression of T-cell immunoglobulin mucin 1 (TIM-1) on tryptase-positive mast cells (MCs) in different severities of human chronic periodontitis. METHODS：Human gingival specimens (n=92) were involved in this study, including healthy control (n=27), mild chronic periodontitis (n=34) and severe chronic periodontitis (n=31). The gingival specimens were fixed in 4% formaldehyde. Paraffin embedding and serial sectioning with hematoxylin and eosin staining were performed for histopathological examination, and double-immunofluorescence staining was conducted for identification of tryptase-TIM-1 double-positive MCs in the gingival tissues. RESULTS：Compared with the healthy controls, the densities (cells/mm2) of tryptase-TIM-1 double-positive MCs were significantly increased in both mild chronic periodontitis group (P<0.05) and severe chronic periodontitis group (P<0.01). However, compared with mild chronic periodontitis group, both the score of gingival tissue inflammation and the density of tryptase-TIM-1 double-positive MCs in the gingival tissues were significantly increased in severe periodontitis group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION：Significantly increased number of tryptase-TIM-1 double-positive MCs has the similar tendency as the severity of periodontitis inflammation in human chronic periodontitis, suggesting that tryptase-TIM-1 double-positive MCs may play an important role in human chronic periodotitis.