SIGNIFICANT CORRELATION BETWEEN MATRIX METALLOPROTEINASE ACTIVITY ANDTUMOR-NECROSIS-FACTOR-ALPHA IN SALIVARY EXTRAVASATION MUCOCELES

We examined the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity and tumor necr osis factor (TNF)-alpha in luminal fluid of 18 extravasation mucoceles and in saliva from Wharton's duct of five patients by means of gelati n zymography and enzyme immunoassay, respectively. The luminal fluid s howed a high level of MMP activity compared with the saliva. Quantitat ive determination by enzyme immunoassay revealed that the luminal flui d contained higher levels of TNF-alpha than the saliva. In addition, t he amount of TNF-alpha in luminal fluid exhibited a direct correlation with MMP activity estimated by densitometric analysis of gelatin zymo grams. Since TNF-alpha stimulates the production of MMPs from cells su ch as fibroblasts, these results suggest that TNF-alpha is one of the causal molecules that enhance the accumulation of proteolytic enzymes in luminal fluid of mucoceles.