ROLE OF FACTOR XIIIA IN PATHOGENESIS AND BIOLOGIC BEHAVIOR OF PERIAPICAL LESIONS

Objectives: The role of collagen in the pathogenesis and behavior of odontogenic cysts has been a
matter of renewed interest. Factor XIII a plays an important role in fibrosis by stimulating fibroblasts
and also by interacting with inflammatory mediators. Understanding its role in periapical lesions may
help in predicting biological behavior and define the treatment approach. The aim of the study is to
evaluate the expression of factor XIIIa in periapical granulomas and cysts, and to assess the role of
fibrosis in their pathogenesis.
Study Design: The study was an in-vitro study which was performed on archival tissue samples using
immunohistochemistry. 30 cases of periapical granuloma and 30 cases of periapical cyst were
examined for factor XIIIa immunoexpression and the total number of positive cells in the two groups
were evaluated. Also, the positivity was compared between three layers of periapical cyst capsule.
Statistical anlaysis was performed using SPSS (20) software. Student t-test was used to compare the
expression between periapical granuloma and cyst (p<0.05) while ANOVA and Tukeys test were
used to evaluate the expression between the three layers (p<0.05)
Results: Factor XIIIa showed a non-significant increase in periapical cysts than granulomas. The
expression was significantly increased in the intermediate layer and around the areas of inflammation.
This suggested that factor XIIIA is expressed in cells prior to marked fibrosis and is higher in areas of
inflammation.
Conclusion: Factor XIIIa plays an important role in limiting the size of lesion and warranting a more
conservative therapeutic approach.