Immunohistochemical evaluation of mast cells and vascular endothelial proliferation in oral submucous fibrosis

Abstract

Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is a chronic, progressive, scarring disease that predominantly affects the people of south-east Asian origin. The present study is aimed at comparing and correlating the mast cell density (MCD) and micro vascular density (MVD) in normal mucosa and different grades of OSMF and to analyze their role in the disease progression. MCD was assessed immunohistochemically using anti mast cell tryptase and MVD was assessed using anti-factor VIII related von Willebrand factor. The one way comparison of MVD and MCD in normal mucosa and among different grades of OSMF showed a significant increase in MCD and MVD among OSMF cases. Correlation analysis using Pearson correlation coefficient, showed positive correlation between MCD and MVD i.e. as MCD increases there is an exponential increase in MVD. The increase in MVD and MCD reveals their role in the pathogenesis of OSMF, a lesion characterized by progressive fibrosis in early stages and failure of degradation or remodeling in the advanced stages.