CHANGES IN VEGF AND BETA-CATENIN EXPRESSION IN GINGIVAL TISSUES UNDER HYPEROCCLUSION AND ITS MECHANISM

Objective To investigate the role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in gingival tissues remodeling by measuring the changes in VEGF and β-catenin expression in mouse gingival tissues under hyperocclusion. Methods Thirty male Kunming mice aged four weeks were randomly divided into control group (n=15) and experimental group (n=15). All the right maxillary molars of mice in the experimental group were extracted to establish a hyperocclusion model. On the 3rd, 7th, 14th, 28th, and 56th days after operation, three mice in each group were randomly selected and sacrificed under anesthesia. Their left mandibular first molars with the gingival tissues were isolated. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining was performed to observe the histological changes of the gingiva, and immunohistochemical staining was used to measure the changes in VEGF and β-catenin expression in the gingival tissues. Results The HE staining showed that in the experimental group, the thickness of gingival tissues and the number of blood vessels increased on day 14 after tooth extraction. The results of immunohistochemical examination showed that in the control group, there were no significant differences in the expression of VEGF and β-catenin in the gingival tissues between different time points (P>0.05); while in the experimental group, there were significant differences in that between different time points (F=250.4,343.9,P