IADR Abstract Archives
Hydropic Degeneration of Labial Mucosal Epithelium and Burning Sensation in Xerostomia Patients
Objectives: Patients suffering from Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) show decreased secretion of saliva and histopathological changes in salivary glands. The complaint of hyperalgesia or burning sensation in oral mucosa is not always associated with reduced saliva flow in the patients. Besides glandular lesion and lymphatic infiltration, we found hydropic degeneration among oral epithelia of SS patients. We explored the relationship between that degenerative change in oral mucosa and SS’s pathophysiology.
Methods: Under the approval of the Kyushu University Institutional Review Board for Clinical Trials and for Human Genome/Gene Research, we obtained labial mucosa from SS patients and from mucosal cyst patients. We performed histological and immunohistochemical observation using hematoxylin-eosin staining and ion channel transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) and several inflammatory cell markers. Then, we analyzed the relationship between histopathological changes and clinical findings.
Results: Labial mucosa from most SS patients exhibited scattered lesions of hydropic degeneration and substantial number of intraepithelial macrophage infiltrations. The number of intraepithelial macrophages was larger in the group of patients who complained of hyperalgesia. In addition to the intraepithelial infiltration, macrophage was also seen in labial salivary glands, which suggests a relation between the mucosal and salivary gland lesion. Hyperalgesia showed no statistical correlation with decreased saliva flow, which suggested that macrophage infiltration does not result from dryness. Furthermore, TRPV4 expression in normal mucosal epithelium appeared prominently in the prickle cell layer and labial salivary glands but decreased in degenerated lesion.
Conclusions: The labial mucosal changes of SS patients such as hydropic degeneration and macrophage infiltration may be associated with hypersensitivity of oral mucosa. Since TRPV4 is reported to be associated with modulation of cell-cell adhesion and water efflux, TRPV4 is suspected to be related to the cause of degenerative lesion in labial mucosa.
Methods: Under the approval of the Kyushu University Institutional Review Board for Clinical Trials and for Human Genome/Gene Research, we obtained labial mucosa from SS patients and from mucosal cyst patients. We performed histological and immunohistochemical observation using hematoxylin-eosin staining and ion channel transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) and several inflammatory cell markers. Then, we analyzed the relationship between histopathological changes and clinical findings.
Results: Labial mucosa from most SS patients exhibited scattered lesions of hydropic degeneration and substantial number of intraepithelial macrophage infiltrations. The number of intraepithelial macrophages was larger in the group of patients who complained of hyperalgesia. In addition to the intraepithelial infiltration, macrophage was also seen in labial salivary glands, which suggests a relation between the mucosal and salivary gland lesion. Hyperalgesia showed no statistical correlation with decreased saliva flow, which suggested that macrophage infiltration does not result from dryness. Furthermore, TRPV4 expression in normal mucosal epithelium appeared prominently in the prickle cell layer and labial salivary glands but decreased in degenerated lesion.
Conclusions: The labial mucosal changes of SS patients such as hydropic degeneration and macrophage infiltration may be associated with hypersensitivity of oral mucosa. Since TRPV4 is reported to be associated with modulation of cell-cell adhesion and water efflux, TRPV4 is suspected to be related to the cause of degenerative lesion in labial mucosa.