Morphological, morphometric, and functional characteristics of melatonin-producing gingival mast cells in patients presenting with inflammatory periodontal diseases and dynamics of their post-treatment changes

The objective of this work was to evaluate quantitative density and functional activity of melatonin-producing mast cells of normal gingival mucosa obtained from the patients presenting with inflammatory periodontal diseases before and after their treatment. The study has demonstrated a significant decrease in the number of mast cells producing melatonin in gingival mucosa during inflammation of parodontium. Long-term follow-up observations (1, 3, and 6 months after the treatment) revealed a steady rise in the quantitative density of melatonin-producing gingival mast cells to a practically normal level in the patients with chronic generalized catarrhal gingivitis (CGCG) and mild chronic generalized periodontitis (mCGP). At the same time, this parameter remained much lower than the normal one in the patients presenting with moderate chronic generalized periodontitis (moCGP) and severe chronic generalized periodontitis (sCGP). Its value correlated with the degree of inflammatory and destructive changes in the periodontal tissues.

inflammatory periodontal diseases, diffuse neuroendocrine system, mast cells, melatonin