Haque M F, Harris M, Meghji S, Barrett A W
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of London, WC1X 8LD, UK.
Cytokine. 1998 Sep;10(9):713-9. doi: 10.1006/cyto.1997.0342.
Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is a chronic fibrotic disease of the oral cavity and oropharynx characterized by fibroelastic change in the mucosa which leads to progressive inability to open the mouth. The inflammatory cells in the lesional tissue consist mainly of T lymphocytes, with a high CD4:CD8 ratio, and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II expressing antigen-presenting cells. Cytokines and growth factors produced by inflammatory cells within the lesion may promote fibrosis by inducing proliferation of fibroblasts, upregulating collagen synthesis and downregulating collagenase production. The authors used a three-stage immunoperoxidase technique to investigate the expression of interleukin alpha (IL-1alpha) and beta, IL-6 interferon (IFN)-alpha, beta and gamma, transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in frozen sections of OSF and compared it with that in normal buccal mucosa. The expression of cytokines and growth factors in normal tissues was consistent with their well known distribution and cell of origin, but the intensity and distribution in OSF were all, with the exception of IFN-alpha and gamma, upregulated with strong expression in both the epithelium and underlying connective tissue. IFN-alpha showed a similar pattern of staining in both normal mucosa and OSF. IFN-gamma showed little or no expression in most lesional tissues, suggesting an innate deficiency or downregulation of this cytokine. The general increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines and growth factors, and reduced production of IFN-gamma, may play an important role in the pathogenesis of OSF.
口腔黏膜下纤维化（OSF）是一种口腔和口咽的慢性纤维化疾病，其特征为黏膜发生纤维弹性改变，导致张口逐渐受限。病变组织中的炎症细胞主要由T淋巴细胞组成，CD4:CD8比值较高，还有表达主要组织相容性复合体（MHC）II类分子的抗原呈递细胞。病变内炎症细胞产生的细胞因子和生长因子可能通过诱导成纤维细胞增殖、上调胶原蛋白合成以及下调胶原酶产生来促进纤维化。作者采用三阶段免疫过氧化物酶技术，研究白细胞介素α（IL-1α）和β、IL-6、干扰素（IFN）-α、β和γ、转化生长因子β（TGF-β）、血小板衍生生长因子（PDGF）和碱性成纤维细胞生长因子（bFGF）在OSF冰冻切片中的表达，并将其与正常颊黏膜中的表达进行比较。细胞因子和生长因子在正常组织中的表达与其已知的分布和起源细胞一致，但在OSF中，除IFN-α和γ外，其强度和分布均上调，在上皮和下方结缔组织中均有强表达。IFN-α在正常黏膜和OSF中的染色模式相似。IFN-γ在大多数病变组织中几乎不表达或无表达，提示该细胞因子存在先天性缺陷或下调。促炎细胞因子和生长因子的普遍增加以及IFN-γ产生的减少，可能在OSF的发病机制中起重要作用。
