Mast cell response in early and advanced oral submucous fibrosis

Abstract

The clinical and pathological features of oral submucous fibrosis have been described by a number of workers (Joshi 1953, Lal 1963, Su 1953, Sirsat & Khanolkar 1957,1960, 1962, De Sa 1957, Rao 1962, Pindborg & Singh 1964, Pindborg & Zachariah 1965). Recent reports show the disease is fairly wide spread in all parts of India (Pindborg & Sirsat 1966). A significant correlation between the parallel presence of sub- mucous fibrosis and cancers of various sites in the oral mucosa has also been noted (Paymaster 1957, Pindborg & Zachariah 1965). The aetiology of this condition remains obscure, though the slow irritant action of capsaicin, (the irritant principle of chillies-e-Cupsicum annum) has been assessed on the rat oral mucosa, as a possible causative factor (Sirsat & Khanolkar 1960a, 1960b), The subepithelial response in oral submucous fibrosis (Sirsat & Pindborg 1967) as also in the vesicles which occasionally erupt as an early clinical sign (Pindborg & Singh 1965) suggest a rather complex pathogenesis. Biopsies from patients with this disease are therefore being studied from various aspects towards understanding the basic reactions in it. This paper reports the mast cell response in histologically early and advanced stages of the disease.