• Ran Tao and Yong Jiang.
• Department of Preventive Dentistry, School of Stomatology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China.
• Zhonghua Kou Qiang Yi Xue Za Zhi. 2012 Mar 1;47(3):177-81.

ObjectiveTo investigate the relationship between dental pain and Nav1.8 expression level by detecting the expression of voltage-gated sodium channel Nav1.8 in normal human dental pulps and painful pulp tissues.MethodsImmunohistochemistry, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting were used to detect the expression of Nav1.8 in normal human dental pulp and painful dental pulp.ResultsNav1.8 expressed in dental pulps and the expression level of Nav1.8 increased significantly in painful dental pulps in comparison with normal dental tissues. The immunohistochemistry results revealed that Nav1.8 expression level in painful dental issue was 0.547 ± 0.049 in relative intensity,and in normal dental issue 0.356 ± 0.058 (P < 0.05). Western blotting showed similar results of 0.234 ± 0.030 vs 0.108 ± 0.012. RT-PCR results indicated that Nav1.8 mRNA expression level in painful dental issue was 7.130 ± 2.471 and in normal dental issue was 1.024 ± 0.295 (P < 0.05).ConclusionsThe expression level of Nav1.8 increased significantly in painful dental pulp tissue, suggesting that Nav1.8 may play an important role in the development and transmission of dental pain.

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