Background: The aim of this study was to determine concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in normal, painful, and asymptomatic human dental pulps.
Methods: Pulps were obtained from three groups of teeth, including healthy teeth, asymptomatic teeth with caries and/or large restoration, and symptomatic teeth with clinical diagnosis of irreversible pulpitis. Pulpal tissues were collected, prepared, and analyzed for TNF-alpha concentration by ELISA technique.
Results: Nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test revealed significant differences between TNF-alpha concentration in normal samples (64.01 +/- 53.12 pg/g) and irreversible symptomatic pulpal tissue (1962.99 +/- 1288.75 pg/g), between irreversible symptomatic and asymptomatic (1120.09 +/- 649.72 pg/g), and between normal and irreversible asymptomatic pulpal tissue (p = 0.000).
Conclusions: TNF-alpha may be an objective marker for determining extent of pulpal inflammation associated with irreversible pulpitis.