Gene Analysis of Pulp Changes After Orthopedic Rapid Maxillary Expansion

• Grant number: 24/08521-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2024
• End date: August 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Dentistry - Orthodontics
• Principal Investigator: Maria Bernadete Sasso Stuani
• Grantee: Maria Luiza Vianna Lopez
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Odontologia de Ribeirão Preto (FORP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of orthopedic rapid maxillary expansion (ORME) on dental pulp of anchor teeth of young rats, through gene expression analysis by the PCR technique and through cytokines in blood plasma by the Multiplex Luminex technique.Sixty (n=60) male Wistar rats will be randomly distributed into 2 groups: Control Group (CG, n=30), in which the animals will not have ORME and will be sacrificed during periods of 3, 10 and 14 days after the start of the experiment; and Experimental Group (EG, n=30), in which animals will be subjected to maxillary disjunction and sacrificed in the same periods as the Control Group. Dental pulps from 15 animals (n=15) from each group, CG and EG, will be extracted for analysis of mRNA gene expression, using the RT-PCR technique, for the genes: Vegf, Pecam- 1, Hif1-±, Fgf-2, Mmp2, Mmp9 and Alpl. The results will be gatherd according to the different study groups and experimental periods, and subsequently subjected to Shapiro-Wilk and Levene tests. If a normal and homogeneous distribution of variables, the ANOVA test will be applied, followed by Tukey. Otherwise, there will be used the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney non-parametric tests, considering the level of significance of 0.05.