Gandhi Piyush, Prasad Umesh Chandra
Department of Oral Pathology, Dasmesh Institute of Research and Dental Sciences, Faridkot, Punjab, India.
Department of Oral Pathology, Kanti Devi Dental College, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Dent Res J (Isfahan). 2017 Sep-Oct;14(5):314-320. doi: 10.4103/1735-3327.215960.
Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is a chronic debilitating disease of the oral cavity having premalignant potential and unclear pathogenesis. Recently, myofibroblast has been postulated to play an important role in its pathogenesis and in the process of carcinogenesis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the presence of myofibroblasts in normal mucosa, different grades of OSMF, and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).
The present cross-sectional descriptive study sample consisted of three groups, including 40 OSCCs, 40 OSMF, and 10 sections of normal oral epithelium taken as control group. Alpha-smooth muscle actin was used to identify myofibroblasts using immunohistochemical technique. < 0.05 was taken as statistically significant.
The presence of myofibroblasts was significantly higher in OSMF cases when compared with normal epithelium specimens. The presence of myofibroblasts was significantly higher in OSCC compared to OSMF cases. A significant difference was not observed between the different grades of OSCC.
These findings favor the possibility that OSMF actually represents an abnormal healing process in response irritation caused by areca nut. A significant increase in myofibroblasts in OSCC as compared to OSMF also highlights the possible role it may play in the malignant transformation of OSMF.
口腔黏膜下纤维化（OSMF）是一种具有恶变潜能且发病机制不明的口腔慢性致残性疾病。最近，有研究推测肌成纤维细胞在其发病机制及癌变过程中起重要作用。本研究旨在评估和比较正常黏膜、不同分级的OSMF以及口腔鳞状细胞癌（OSCC）中肌成纤维细胞的存在情况。
本横断面描述性研究样本包括三组，即40例OSCC、40例OSMF以及10例正常口腔上皮切片作为对照组。采用免疫组织化学技术，用α-平滑肌肌动蛋白鉴定肌成纤维细胞。P<0.05认为具有统计学意义。
与正常上皮标本相比，OSMF病例中肌成纤维细胞的存在显著增多。与OSMF病例相比，OSCC中肌成纤维细胞的存在显著增多。不同分级的OSCC之间未观察到显著差异。
这些发现支持OSMF实际上代表了对槟榔刺激产生的一种异常愈合过程这一可能性。与OSMF相比，OSCC中肌成纤维细胞显著增多也突出了其在OSMF恶变中可能发挥的作用。
