BIOCHEMICAL AND HISTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ENZYME ARYLSULFATASE INHUMAN LESIONS OF ENDODONTIC ORIGIN

Lesions of endodontic origin are areas of inflammatory response which occur as a result of untreated disease process within the root canal s ystem. Lysosomal hydrolytic arylsulfatase A and B have been identified as major enzymes initiating and propagating bone loss by degrading ch ondroitin-4-sulfate. The purpose of this investigation was to examine human lesions of endodontic origin for the presence of arylsulfatase A and B. Fifteen periapical lesions were obtained at the time of periap ical surgery. The lesions were analyzed for the presence of arylsulfat ases using the spectrophotometer by monitoring the liberated 4-nitroca techol at 515-nm wavelength. The same lesions were examined histochemi cally using the electron microscope. Five control samples from healthy periodontal ligament were evaluated in a similar manner. The results showed higher levels of arylsulfatase A in lesions than in control tis sues, and marked activity of arylsulfatase B in lesions, whereas no ac tivity of this enzyme was detected in the control specimen. Histochemi cally, all lesions showed positive staining for enzyme activity, where as the controls were negative. These findings indicate that arylsulfat ase A and B play a role in the pathogenesis of human lesions of endodo ntic origin.