An association between RAGE promotor and dental and medical history

Both dental and medical history are important factors in planning suitable treatment for patients. The receptors for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) inflammation pathway involves in several inflammation diseases including periodontal diseases and diabetes type II. Polymorphisms in the RAGE promotor interfere with protein expression and may affect underlying conditions. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the potential of buccal swab in analyzing the RAGE promotor and its association with dental and medical history. Methods: Buccal swab samples were collected from 71 second-year dental students of the Mahidol University, 19 to 21 years of age. Dental and medical history from both the volunteers and their relatives were recorded. These included diabetes, hypertension, kidney's diseases, dental caries and chronic periodontitis. PCR was performed with two primers, which were designed to encompass the RAGE promotor. Results: There were two patterns of the amplicons. The first one consisted of one single 1.7-Kb band whereas the other was two bands of 0.9Kb and 1.7Kb. There were significantly differences in the prevalence of both patterns in association with the medical history of the volunteers' relatives (p=0.029). The two-band pattern was found with the subjects, who had the relatives with diabetes more than those with other diseases and none (53.8, 28.7 and 17.5%, respectively). In relation to the dental history of the volunteers, the two-band pattern was 52.5% in the subjects without caries and periodontal diseases, 21.2, 13.8 and 12.5% in those with periodontal diseases, caries and both diseases, respectively. In addition, the single-band was only in healthy subjects and subjects with caries, 76.9 and 23.1%, respectively. Conclusion: Buccal swab was able to be used for screening the RAGE promoter and the PCR patterns might be associated with the dental and medical history. This work was supported by a grant from Mahidol University.