Table 1.

Characteristics of included studies.

Author	Experimental Area	Methodology	Outcome	Conclusion	Remarks
Sarmiento et al., 2016 [18]	To identify LL-37 levels in normal and inflamed pulp	10 diagnosed symptomatic irreversible pulpitis with apical periodontitis and 10 Healthy pulp were chosen. Estimation of LL-37 was done by ELISA method.	Mean pulpal concentration of LL-37 in symptomatic irreversible pulp is 1.5 ± 1.2 ng/mL and in normal pulp is 0.2 ± 0.6 ng/mL.	Inflammation of dental pulp induces expression of LL-37 ad therefore LL-37 plays a major role in innate immunity.	Small sample size selection might be a bias to standardize the levels of LL-37 in inflamed and normal pulp. The degree of inflammation of pulp required to stimulate LL-37 expression is another factor that needs to be assessed.
Tao et al., 2005 [23]	To identify possible relationship between Antimicrobial peptide levels in saliva and caries experience in middle school children	Saliva of 144 children under the age group of 11–15 yrs were analyzed for LL-37 and hBD3, HNP1-3.	The mean of LL-37 showed extensive variation between individuals. The level of (α-defensins) HNP1-3 were inversely correlated with caries.	Children with caries have significantly lower levels of α-defensins and low salivary levels of H.N.P 1-3 was inversely correlated to caries	The study showed alpha-defensins can be potential markers for caries risk. Also mentioned that synthetic peptides can be developed to enhance peptide expression and can be therapeutic agent.
Ouhara et al., 2005 [22]	Anti microbial peptide hBD1, hBD2, hBD3 and LL-37 were evaluated for their antimicrobial activity against oral bacteria	Synthetic peptides were treated with various oral bacteria Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sobrinus, Streptococcus salivarius, Streptococcus sanguis, Streptococcus mitis and Lactobacillus casei	Antibacterial action of hBD1 was lower than other peptides F. nucleatum was highly susceptible to hBD 3 and LL-37. S. mutans was highly susceptible to hBD3	β-defensins and LL-37 have potential antibacterial action against oral bacteria	The net charge on the bacterial surface is another factor that can be considered, also selective inhibition by these peptides can be a contradictory factor that can be evaluated through invivo studies.
Cheng et al., 2020 [24]	Evaluate the effect of LL-37 on proliferation, migration and differentiation of Stem cells from apical papilla (SCAP)	SCAPs were isolated from third molars of age group 16–20 Y, cultured, characterized. The cell viability was analyzed with cell-commet assay kit. Dentin Sialophosphoprotein, dentin matrix protein 1 were assessed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot.	2.5 µg/mL of LL-37 regulated odonto/osteogenic markers. LL-37 promoted alkaline phosphatase activity	LL-37 at 2.5 µg/mL promoted the migration and odonto/osteo differential SCAPs by activating the AKt/Wnt/β-catenin signalling	In vivo assay could have been a better option, to understand therapeutic action of LL-37 on apical lesions.
Khung et al., 2015 [25]	To examine in-vitro effects of LL-37 on expression of vascular endothelial growth factors in human pulp cells	Pulp cells at passage 6 were treated with 10 µg/mL−1 synthesized LL-37 and inhibition assay was performed with MAPk or NF-kB inhibits VEGF, mRNA, VEGF protein andphophorylated ERK were determined byRT PCk, ELISA and western blot	LL-37 significantly increased both mRNA and protein levels VEGF in pulp cell.	LL-37 activated the ERK pathway to boost VEGF secretion from human pulp cells. These for can be a potent pulp capping agent.	This article clearly suggests the role of LL-37 in pulpal cell migration and thus a potent pulp capping agent.