An Unusual Clinical Presentation of Traumatic Ulcerative Granuloma With Stromal Eosinophilia.

Traumatic ulcerative granuloma with stromal eosinophilia (TUGSE) is a reactive and chronic ulcerative lesion that is most frequently found on the tongue. It appears as a large yellowish ulcer with elevated margins and central induration. TUGSEs exhibit a characteristic pattern of regression often spontaneously, following incisional biopsy, or after removal of the potential traumatic trigger. Herein, we present an unusual case of a TUGSE on the anterior maxillary gingiva of a 70-year-old male that regressed following incisional biopsy. Histopathologic evaluation revealed fragments of squamous mucosa and submucosal tissue with large atypical cells mixed with small lymphocytes, abundant eosinophils, and focal clusters of plasma cells. Immunohistochemistry was performed and the large, atypical cells were positive for CD3, CD4, CD5, and CD30 and negative for CD1a, CD8, CD20, CD56, CD117, ALK1, Langerin, and EBER ISH. To our knowledge, this is the first case of TUGSE reported in the anterior maxilla.

Sprague Dawley Rats Gaining Weight on a High Energy Diet Exhibit Damage to Taste Tissue Even after Return to a Healthy Diet.

Many reports detail taste dysfunction in humans and animals with obesity. For example, mice consuming an obesogenic diet for a short period have fewer taste buds than their lean littermates. Further, rats with diet-induced obesity (DIO) show blunted electrophysiological responses to taste in the brainstem. Here, we studied the effects of high energy diet (HED)-induced peripheral taste damage in rats, and whether this deficiency could be reversed by returning to a regular chow diet. Separate groups of rats consumed a standard chow diet (Chow), a HED for 10 weeks followed by a return to chow (HED/chow), or a HED for 10 weeks followed by a restricted HED that was isocaloric with consumption by the HED/chow group (HED/isocal). Fungiform taste papilla (FP) and circumvallate taste bud abundance were quantified several months after HED groups switched diets. Results showed that both HED/chow and HED/isocal rats had significantly fewer FP and lower CV taste bud abundance than control rats fed only chow. Neutrophil infiltration into taste tissues was also quantified, but did not vary with treatment on this timeline. Finally, the number of cells undergoing programmed cell death, measured with caspase-3 staining, inversely correlated with taste bud counts, suggesting taste buds may be lost to apoptosis as a potential mechanism for the taste dysfunction observed in obesity. Collectively, these data show that DIO has lasting deleterious effects on the peripheral taste system, despite a change from a HED to a healthy diet, underscoring the idea that obesity rather than diet predicts damage to the taste system.