Intranuclear inclusion bodies in recurrent aphthous ulcers with a herpetiform pattern.

Spherical granular and filamentous intranuclear bodies were found in the marginal epithelial cells of recurrent aphthous ulcers with a herpetiform pattern. They ranged from 0.8 to 1.2 mu in size with one to four bodies being present in any one nucleus. Because of their size and the demonstrated lack of DNA or RNA, it was thought that they were not viral in nature, as has been previously reported. It is hypothesized that intranuclear bodies of the type found in this study represent a common manifestation of altered cellular metabolsim produced by several etiologic factors.