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Role of β-defensins in oral epithelial health and disease

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Abstract

The oral epithelium functions as a mechanical and protective barrier to resist bacterial infection. β-Defensins are a group of antimicrobial peptides mainly produced by epithelial cells of many organs including skin, lung, kidney, pancreas, uterus, eye, and nasal and oral mucosa. This review focuses on β-defensins (BDs) in oral epithelia and discusses their importance in oral epithelial health and disease. BDs exhibit antimicrobial activity against oral microbes including periodontitis-related bacteria, Candida, and papilloma virus. Alterative expression of BDs was observed in oral epithelial diseases, including oral inflammatory lesions with and without microbial infection and oral cancer. BDs may be useful in the treatment of oral infectious diseases, ulcerative lesions, and cancer. BDs play an important role in protection against oral microbes and may be used in clinical applications.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dental Science, Division of Oral Medicine and Pathology, Institute of Personalized Medical Science, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, 2-5 Ainosato, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 002-8072, Japan

    Yoshihiro Abiko & Masto Saitoh

  2. Division of Clinical Oral Pathology, Department of Human Biology and Pathophysiology, School of Dentistry, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, Hokkaido, Japan

    Yoshihiro Abiko, Masto Saitoh, Michiko Nishimura, Mami Yamazaki & Tohru Kaku

  3. Division of Pediatric Dentistry, Departmento of Oral Growth and Development, School of Dentistry, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, Hokkaido, Japan

    Masto Saitoh

  4. Department of Dermatology, School of Medicine, Hirosaki University Hirosaki, Anomri, Japan

    Daisuke Sawamura

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  1. Yoshihiro Abiko
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  2. Masto Saitoh
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  3. Michiko Nishimura
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  4. Mami Yamazaki
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Correspondence to Yoshihiro Abiko.

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Abiko, Y., Saitoh, M., Nishimura, M. et al. Role of β-defensins in oral epithelial health and disease. Med Mol Morphol 40, 179–184 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00795-007-0381-8

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