CC chemokine ligand 3 and receptors 1 and 5 gene expression in recurrent aphthous stomatitis.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the local and systemic expression of CC-chemokine ligand 3 (CCL3) and its receptors (CCR1 and CCR5) in tissue samples and peripheral blood mononuclear cells of recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) patients.

Study Design: This case-control study enrolled 29 patients presenting severe RAS manifestations and 20 non-RAS patients proportionally matched by sex and age. Total RNA was extracted from biopsy specimens and peripheral blood mononuclear cells for quatitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. The data obtained by relative quantification were evaluated by the 2(-ΔΔCt) method, normalized by the expression of an endogenous control, and analyzed by Student t test.

Results: The results demonstrated overexpression in RAS tissue samples of all of the chemokines evaluated compared with healthy oral mucosa, whereas the blood samples showed only CCR1 overexpression in RAS patients.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that the increased expression of CCL3, CCR1, and CCR5 may influence the immune response in RAS by T(H)1 cytokine polarization.