Langerhans Cell Expression in Oral Submucous Fibrosis: An Immunohistochemical Analysis.

Abstract

Langerhans cells (LCs), are dendritic cells of the epithelium which play a role in an array of oral lesions from gingivitis to oral cancer. Oral Submucous Fibrosis (OSMF), a potentially malignant disorder (PMD), is an insidious chronic disease with juxta-epithelial inflammatory changes leading to fibrosis. Langerhans cells (LCs) may play a part in the ongoing inflammatory dysregulation of OSMF. The study was aimed at elucidating the distribution of LCs in varying grades of OSMF. A retrospective study using 39 cases of OSMF, graded using Haematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) stained section. Immunohistochemistry was performed using polyclonal anti- CD1a antibodies to identify LCs in 5 cases of normal tissue and 39 samples of OSMF. The distribution of LCs among the various grades and normal mucosa analysed using Mann-Whitney U test. LC population in the OSMF was significantly higher when compared to the normal epithelium (p<0.001). Within the grades the advanced stage had more LCs than the other stages. The increase in LCs might indicate the role of antigenic exposure in turn leading to cell mediated immunity in OSMF. Thus the fibrosis in OSMF might have a direct link to LCs.