Prevalence of and related risk factors in oral mucosa diseases among residents in the Baoshan District of Shanghai, China

Background Oral mucosal diseases (OMDs) encompass a variety of different types of diseases. Our aim was to evaluate the prevalence and related risk factors of OMDs among residents in the Baoshan District of Shanghai, China, and provide a scientific basis for prevention and control strategies. Methods A sample of 653 residents aged 17 to 92 years from the Baoshan community was investigated in 2014. Each resident was surveyed by questionnaire to evaluate their oral mucosa and oral mucosa examinations were conducted. We followed up with 607 residents in 2018. All data were statistically analyzed using the SPSS 25.0 software package (Chicago, IL, USA) at the general population, gender and age levels. A X2 test was used to compare rates of risk factors and logistic regression analysis was used to detect the correlation between disease and risk factors. Results The prevalence rate of OMDs was found to be 9.19%–9.56% (2014–2018). The most common OMDs were atrophic glossitis (1.84%), recurrent aphthous ulcer (RAU, 1.68%), burning mouth syndrome (BMS, 1.38%), oral lichen planus (OLP, 1.23%) and traumatic ulcers (1.23%). The prevalence of RAU and BMS in different age groups was significantly different. Tobacco and alcohol use and psychological factors in the OMDs group were higher than the no-OMDs group. Systemic diseases including diabetes mellitus (DM) was significantly relevant to OLP. Conclusion Age, tobacco and alcohol use, and psychological factor correlated strongly with the occurrence and development of OMDs, and they should be the focus of primary prevention. General epidemiological studies suggested that OLP was closely related to DM

Immunoexpression of Interleukin-22 and Interleukin-23 in Oral and Cutaneous Lichen Planus Lesions: A Preliminary Study

Interleukin- (IL-) 22 is the signature cytokine of T-helper (Th) 22 cells, and IL-23 is required for IL-22 production. The objective of this study was to examine the immunoexpression of IL-22 and IL-23 in archival paraffin-embedded biopsy specimens from oral LP (n=42) and cutaneous LP (n=38) against normal control tissues. The results showed that the percentage of cells expressing IL-22 and IL-23 in LP were significantly higher in LP compared to controls, respectively (both P<0.001). The correlation between IL-22 and IL-23 expression was significant (P<0.05). Moreover, the percentage of cells expressing IL-22 and IL-23 in oral LP were significantly higher than cutaneous LP (P<0.05). Collectively, our findings demonstrated that the increased expression of IL-22 and IL-23 in LP lesions could play roles in the pathogenesis of LP. Moreover, oral LP expressing IL-22 and IL-23 was higher than cutaneous LP, probably due to Th22 cells as an important component of oral mucosal host defense against oral microbiota and tissue antigens. This may be associated with the difference in clinical behaviour of the two variants of the disease

Metabolic Transformation of DMBA-Induced Carcinogenesis and Inhibitory Effect of Salvianolic Acid B and Breviscapine Treatment

Oral cancer typically develops from hyperplasia through dysplasia to carcinoma with a multistep process of carcinogenesis involving genetic alterations resulting in aberrant cellular appearance, deregulated cell growth, and carcinoma. The metabolic transformation during the process of oral carcinogenesis and its implications for cancer therapy have not been extensively investigated. Here, we report a metabonomic study on a classical model of 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA)-induced oral carcinogenesis in hamsters to delineate characteristic metabolic transformation during the carcinogenesis using gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC–TOF MS). Salvianolic acid B (Sal-B), isolated from <i>Salvia miltiorrhiza</i> Bge, and Breviscapine, a flavonoid isolated from Herba Erigerontis, were used to treat the hamsters exposed to DMBA to investigate the molecular mechanism of the inhibitory effect of the two agents on oral carcinogenesis. The dynamic changes of serum metabolic profiles indicated that both Sal-B and Breviscapine were able to attenuate DMBA-induced metabolic perturbation, which is consistent with the histopathological findings that Sal-B and Breviscapine significantly decreased the squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) incidence in the two treatment groups. Significant alterations of key metabolic pathways, including elevated glutaminolysis and glycolysis, and decreased cholesterol and myo-inositol metabolism, were observed in the DMBA-induced model group, which were attenuated or normalized by Sal-B or Breviscapine treatment. Elevated inflammation and tumor angiogenesis at gene and metabolite expression levels were also observed in DMBA-induced oral dysplasia and SCC but were attenuated or normalized by Sal-B and Breviscapine along with significantly decreased incidences of SCC formation