Local Defense Factors in Cleft-Affected Palate in Children before and during Milk Dentition Age: A Pilot Study

One of the most frequent congenital orofacial defects is the cleft lip and palate. Local
tissue defense factors are known to be important in immune response and inflammatory and healing
processes in the cleft tissue; however, they have only been researched in older children during
mixed dentition. Thus, the aim of this study is to assess the distribution of LL-37, CD-163, IL-10,
HBD-2, HBD-3, and HBD-4 in children before and during milk dentition. The unique and rare
material of palate tissue was obtained from 13 patients during veloplastic surgeries during the
time span of 20 years. Immunohistochemistry, light microscopy, semi-quantitative evaluation, and
non-parametric statistical analysis were used. A significant decrease in HBD-3 and HBD-4 in the
connective tissue was found, as well as several mutual statistically significant and strong correlations
between HBD-2, HBD-3, HBD-4, and LL-37. Deficiency of HBD-3 and HBD-4 suggests promotion of
chronic inflammation. The scarcity of HBD-4 could be connected to the different signaling pathways
of dental pulp cells. Mutual correlations imply changes in the epithelial barrier, amplified healing
efficiency, and increased antibacterial line of defense. Deprivation of changes in IL-10 quantity points
to possible suppression of the factor. The presence of similar CD-163 immunoreactive substances
produced by M2 macrophages was also observed.