Antioxidant status of oral mucosal tissue and plasma levels in smokers and non-smokers.

Abstract

The antioxidant status of an individual is thought to be important in the development of potentially malignant oral lesions (PMOL) and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). To date, little detailed information on mucosal antioxidant status is available in a United Kingdom population and neither has the relationship between smoking and mucosal antioxidant status been established. Furthermore, it has been implied that serum levels of antioxidants and tissue levels in the oral mucosa should be equivalent, but that is unproven. To address these deficiencies in our knowledge we studied 60 individuals, all of whom had an oral mucosal biopsy and simultaneous venous blood sampling. Antioxidant levels were measured using high performance liquid chromatography. Smokers (n= 19) were found to have significantly lower levels of plasma beta-carotene (P<0.05) and significantly lower levels of tissue alpha-carotene (P<0.05) than non-smokers (n=41). Tissue alpha-carotene correlated with plasma levels, but this was not the case with alpha-tocopherol, retinol, lycopene or beta-carotene. This is the first data on oral mucosal antioxidant levels and provides baseline data from which to study patients with potentially malignant oral lesions and oral squamous cell carcinoma.