Macrophages skew towards M1 profile through reduced CD163 expression in symptomatic apical periodontitis

Objectives To explore the macrophage profiles in symptomatic and asymptomatic forms of AP through phenotypic and functional analyses. Material and methods Cross-sectional study. Apical tissue/lesion samples were collected from patients with clinical diagnosis of AAP ( n = 51) or SAP ( n = 45) and healthy periodontal ligament (HPL) from healthy patients as controls ( n = 14), all with indication of tooth extraction. Samples were digested, cells were stained for CD14, M1 (CD64, CD80), and M2 (CD163, CD206) phenotypic surface markers and analyzed by flow cytometry. Functional cytokine profiles L-6, IL-12, TNF-α, IL-23 (M1), IL-10, and TGF-β (M2) were determined by qPCR. Results Higher macrophage M1/M2 ratio (CD64 + CD80 + /CD163 + CD206 + ) along with lower CD163 mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) were found in SAP compared to AAP and controls ( p