RESUMO
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Cyclosporin A-induced gingival overgrowth comprises a variety of signaling pathways (including growth factors and proteoglycans) that are still not completely understood. In the present study, gingival overgrowth was investigated in transplant patients receiving cyclosporin A (cyclosporin A group) and compared with gingival tissues never exposed to the drug (control group) by analyzing the gene expression of the cell-surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans syndecan-2, syndecan-4 and betaglycan. MATERIAL AND METHODS: mRNA analysis was carried out by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction amplification of pooled samples from nine patients of the cyclosporin A group and six control subjects. The groups were compared by the Student's t-test. RESULTS: The expression of heparan sulfate proteoglycans was increased in the cyclosporin A group (165% for syndecan-2, 308% for syndecan-4, and 42% for betaglycan) compared with the control group. CONCLUSION: Our findings agree with the current concept of cyclosporin A-induced gingival overgrowth and provide new evidence that its noncollagenous extracellular matrix is overexpressed.