HPLC-OPLC-MS investigation of change of formaldehyde and its generators inhuman teeth of different physiological stage

Taking into consideration the unquestionable intracellular occurrence of fo rmaldehyde (HCHO) and its generators in cells of plant, animal and human or ganisms as well as in body fluids it was resolved to determine their levels in hard tissues of physiologically and pathologically changed teeth. The a im of the work was to determine the relationship between the level of HCHO and the levels of its generators in pathologically changed teeth, mainly ca rietic teeth as tooth caries is still a serious and commonly occurring prob lem. The occurrence of HCHO (captured as its dimedone adduct) and some of i ts potential generators was demonstrated in the hard tissues of healthy and pathological human teeth by means of OPLC, HPLC and MS analyses. It was es tablished that the measurable level of HCHO was increased in the carietic t eeth in comparison with healthy ones. In the case of paradontic tooth sampl e, a dramatic increase of HCHO was observed and at the same time the level of betaines was decreased considerably. The obtained results give a new ins ight into the pathology of hard tissues of teeth in strong correlation with the phases of stress syndrome. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.