RESUMO
AIM: To use radioreceptor analysis for evaluating whether vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) receptors are present in chronic periapical lesions and to determine whether differences in its expression are found according to the size of the lesions. METHODOLOGY: Twelve periapical lesions were obtained from teeth diagnosed with chronic apical periodontitis and indicated for endodontic surgery; they were classified according to the size of the lesion in two groups of six samples (lesion size greater or smaller than 5 mm), and then processed and labelled with (125)I-VIP. Binding sites were identified by (125)I-VIP and standard VIP competition assays. Mann-Whitney's test was used to establish statistically significant differences in the VIP receptor expression between groups. RESULTS: Vasoactive intestinal peptide receptor expression was found in all periapical lesion samples. There was a statistically significantly higher expression in periapical lesions <5 mm (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Vasoactive intestinal peptide receptors were expressed in chronic periapical lesions with levels inversely proportional to lesion size.