Background:  Peripheral giant cell lesion (PGCL) is a reactive process associated with a local irritating factor that shows low recurrence after treatment, especially if the irritating factor is eliminated. On the other hand, central giant cell lesion (CGCL) presents a variable clinical behavior ranging from slow and asymptomatic growth without recurrence to rapid, painful and recurrent growth. Our aim was to compare the immunoexpression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) in CGCL and PGCL.

Methods:  Twenty CGCL and 20 PGCL were selected for analysis of the immunoexpression of TNF-α and TGF-β in multinucleated giant cells (MGC) and mononucleated cells (MC).

Results:  The PGCL showed lightly higher expression of TNF-α than CGCL. In comparison with PGCL, the CGCL showed higher expression of TGF-β in MC and MGC (P < 0.05) and in total cells (P < 0.05). Significant positive correlation was found between expressions of TGF-β and TNF-α in CGCL (P < 0.05).

Conclusions:  Our results suggest that, in CGCL, coordinated interactions between TGF-β and TNF-α may be important for osteoclastogenesis and bone resorption. PGCL occasionally cause bone resorption but to a lower extent, a fact that might be explained by the lower expression of TGF-β in these lesions.