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Gazzetta Medica Italiana Archivio per le Scienze Mediche 2000 June;159(3):89-97

Copyright © 2000 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Eicosanoids and dental pulp diseases. A review of the literature

Varvara G., D’Arcangelo C., Di Nardo Di Maio F.

Università degli Studi «G. D’Annunzio» - Chieti, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, Istituto di Discipline Odontostomatologiche, Cattedra di Odontoiatria Conservatrice

After a detailed description of the metabolism of arachidonic acid and the main effects of these metabolites, the authors examine the role played by the latter in dental pulp and peri-apical pathologies. Following careful evaluation of the bibliography on this subject, they describe the fundamental role played by eicosanoids in initiating and maintaining dental pulp diseases. Eicosanoids have been shown to produce vasoconstriction of the small arteries at a pulpar level, provoking pulpar ischemia, whereas at the level of the periapex they are associated with the various aspects of the inflammatory process, including bone resorption.