Altered ß-catenin expression in oral mucosal dysplasia: a comparative study
J. appl. oral sci
; 23(5): 472-478, Sept.-Oct. 2015. tab, graf
Article
in En
| LILACS, BBO
| ID: lil-764157
Responsible library:
BR1.1
ABSTRACT
Objective The current study aimed to investigate the β-catenin expression in oral leukoplakia (OL) with different degrees of epithelial dysplasia and normal oral mucosa.Material and Methods Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples of 39 OL (mild dysplasia n=19, moderate dysplasia n=13, and severe dysplasia n=7), and 10 normal oral mucosa (control group) were submitted to immunohistochemical reactions to anti-β-catenin primary antibody. A qualitative β-catenin analysis was performed based on the percentage of positive cells. The cellular location and the epithelial layer were also considered. The Chi-square test and the Fisher’s exact test were used to verify possible differences in the β-catenin expression among the OL groups. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results Membranous expression of β-catenin in parabasal and basal layers was gradually lost in the higher degrees of epithelial dysplasia. In normal oral mucosa, β-catenin was detected only in the cytoplasmic membrane. However, a significant increase in cytoplasmic β-catenin could be observed between mild and moderate dysplasia (Fisher Exact test - p<0.001) and between mild and severe dysplasia (p<0.001).Conclusions The β-catenin cytoplasmic expression observed in this study may represent the initial stage of modifications in the E-cadherin-catenin complex, along with morphological cellular changes.
Key words
Full text:
1
Index:
LILACS
Main subject:
Leukoplakia, Oral
/
Beta Catenin
/
Mouth Mucosa
Type of study:
Observational_studies
/
Qualitative_research
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
En
Journal:
J. appl. oral sci
Journal subject:
ODONTOLOGIA
Year:
2015
Type:
Article