MATURE DENDRITIC CELLS QUANTIFICATION IN ORAL PEMPHIGUS VULGARIS LESIONS

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the mature dendritic cells density in samples of pemphigus vulgaris lesions in the oral mucosa. Study Design The study was approved by the Ethics Committee. We selected files, paraffin-embedded blocks, and slides of 15 patients diagnosed with pemphigus vulgaris by our service; and used 15 samples of normal mucosa as a control group. In both groups, the quantitative evaluation of the inflammatory infiltrate was made through the hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained slides. The mature dendritic cells were identified using immunohistochemistry. The analysis of the immunoexpression was made in all the epithelium and lamina propria extension, to obtain the densities/mm2. The data was submitted to SPSS software for statistical analysis. Results The pemphigus vulgaris cases were composed of women and men (13:2), with the average age in years of 47.0 ± 14.7. Most of the lesions were symptomatic and multiples. There were no differences between the densities of mature dendritic cells (P > .005), though the inflammatory infiltrate was significantly bigger in the samples of pemphigus, compared to normal mucosa. Conclusions The mature dendritic cells do not seem to have an important role in the mechanism of the immunologic response in the pemphigus vulgaris oral lesions.