Genes Associated With Hereditary and Drug-Induced Gingival Overgrowth

The purpose of this protocol is twofold: 1) to continue identification of genes associated with hereditary gingival fibromatosis (HGF), a type of gingival overgrowth 2) to investigate the genes up-regulated by medications that induce gingival overgrowth. These studies will establish if common mechanisms are involved in the hereditary and drug-induced processes. If a common pathway is identified, it could lead to the development of assays that could be used to screen new medications for their potential deleterious effects on periodontal tissues. In addition, understanding the mechanisms involved in gingival overgrowth could lead to the development of tissue engineering approaches to repair gingival defects. Genes will be identified from DNA samples collected from patients with hereditary gingival fibromatosis. These will be compared with DNA and tissue samples taken from patients taking medications known to induce gingival overgrowth (phenytoin, cyclosporine and calcium channel blockers).