Binding pattern of eight different lectins in healthy subjects and patients with dysplastic and malignant lesions of the oral cavity.

The present investigation was undertaken to assess the binding characteristics of eight different lectins to normal oral mucosa (11 cases), leukoplakia with varying degrees of dysplasia (five cases), and oral mucosal squamous cell carcinoma (12 cases) by the use of biotinylated lectins and avidin biotin peroxidase complexes. The lectins employed were soybean (SBA), peanut (PNA), Dolichos biflorus (DBA), concanavalin A (Con A), wheat germ (WGA), Ulex europaeus (UEA), Ricinus communis (RCA), and Lotus tetragonolobus (LTA). It was observed that SBA, DBA, WGA, UEA, RCA, and LTA showed very strong to strong binding in healthy oral mucosa but no or very weak binding in squamous cell carcinoma. On the contrary, PNA showed weak binding to normal mucosal epithelial cells but showed strong binding to malignant cells. The dysplastic mucosa had an intermediate binding pattern. The lectin Con A was not bound at all or seen in very low concentration in the malignant cells and dysplastic epithelium, but it showed weak binding in the normal mucosa. Hence, we conclude that lectins may be utilized as probes to determine the dysplastic and malignant status of the oral mucosal epithelium.