Morphology of collagen fibers and elastic system fibers in actinic cheilitis.

BACKGROUND

Actinic cheilitis (AC) is a premalignant condition intimately related to exposure of the lips to sun rays.

AIM

The objective of this study was to evaluate the elastic and collagen fibers in the lamina propria of AC. The degree of epithelial atypia was correlated with the quantity of elastic and collagen fibers.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Fifty-one cases were investigated. One slide was stained with hematoxylin-eosin for the evaluation of atypia, the second was stained with Weigert's resorcin-fuchsin for the assessment of elastic fibers, and the third slide was stained with Mallory's trichrome for the analysis of collagen fibers.

RESULTS

Ordinal logistic regression analysis revealed a significant correlation between the presence of atypia and collagen fibers (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

It was concluded that there seems to be a reduction in the quantity of collagen fibers in cases of moderate and severe atypia. No correlation was observed between the degradation of elastic system fibers and the grade of dysplasia.