Sri Sai College of Dental Surgery, Vikarabad, Andhra Pradesh, India.
J Periodontol. 2012 Aug;83(8):1038-47. doi: 10.1902/jop.2011.110352. Epub 2011 Dec 13.
Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) involves large sections of population and is related to certain chewing practices that involve direct exposure of the gingiva to noxious chemicals and additives. The impact of such practices, although studied extensively in relation to the cheek mucosa, is not elucidated as far as gingival tissues are concerned. The possible DNA damage on affected gingiva is also one of the objectives of the present study.
One hundred cases of individuals with OSF and 89 without OSF were examined for periodontal parameters and compared. Biopsies of gingival tissue from both categories were examined with conventional hematoxylin and eosin staining for epithelial, connective tissue, and inflammatory changes. Comet assay of epithelial cells obtained from scraping the gingival surface of both patients with OSF and control individuals was performed.
Patients with OSF had poorer oral hygiene and greater loss of attachment, probing depth, and recession compared with controls. Significant histopathologic changes in the form of loss of rete ridges with gingival epithelium reduced to a flattened surface was observed. All the patients with OSF showed comet cells in larger numbers. The controls also showed comet cells but in fewer numbers, and the number of individuals showing comet cells was significantly less.
OSF showed significant changes in affected gingiva, and the presence of comet cells in all the patients with OSF is a significant indicator of possible pathognomonic developments.
口腔黏膜下纤维化（OSF）涉及到大量人群，与某些咀嚼习惯有关，这些习惯会使牙龈直接暴露于有害化学物质和添加剂中。尽管已经广泛研究了这些习惯对颊黏膜的影响，但就牙龈组织而言，其影响仍未阐明。目前的研究目的之一还包括受影响的牙龈可能存在的 DNA 损伤。
检查了 100 例 OSF 患者和 89 例无 OSF 患者的牙周参数，并进行了比较。对来自这两个类别的牙龈组织进行了常规苏木精-伊红染色，以检查上皮、结缔组织和炎症变化。对从 OSF 患者和对照组患者的牙龈表面刮取的上皮细胞进行彗星试验。
与对照组相比，OSF 患者的口腔卫生较差，附着丧失、探诊深度和退缩程度更大。观察到明显的组织病理学变化，表现为齿龈上皮的网嵴丧失，减少到扁平表面。所有 OSF 患者均显示出更多的彗星细胞。对照组也显示出彗星细胞，但数量较少，且显示彗星细胞的个体数量明显较少。
OSF 显示出受影响的牙龈有明显的变化，所有 OSF 患者都存在彗星细胞是可能具有特征性发展的重要指标。
