ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is characterized by burning sensation of the oral mucosa. There is a lack of effective treatment. In recent years, a special subtype of BMS has been reported, in which oral burning sensation is alleviated after chewing, speaking, or dopaminergic drug delivery. Currently, there are few reports about the subtype of BMS in China. This study was a retrospective analysis of the clinical data of BMS patients sensitive to dopamine agonist at our hospital, aiming to improve the recognition on this disease. CASE SUMMARY: Eight patients diagnosed with dopamine agonist responsive BMS at the Liaocheng People's Hospital from January 1, 2017 to June 30, 2020 were recruited. The clinical manifestations, treatment, and prognosis were retrospectively analyzed. There were three male and five females in the eight patients. The median age was 56 years (range, 46-65 years). All the eight patients showed burning pain in the mouth. The symptoms were mild in the morning and severe in the evening, and alleviated after chewing, talking, and other oral activities. Four patients were accompanied by restless legs syndrome (RLS). Family history of RLS was positive in two patients. All patients were treated with pramipexol, and symptoms were basically relieved after 2-8 wk. CONCLUSION: Dopamine agonist responsive BMS is a special subtype of BMS, which is alleviated after oral activities. Dopamine receptor agonist is an effective treatment.
ABSTRACT
Hypertrophic scars (HTS), the excessive deposition of scar tissue by fibroblasts, is one of the most common skin disorders. Fibroblasts derived from surgical scar tissue produce high levels of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1). However, the molecular mechanisms for this phenomenon is poorly understood. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the molecular mechanisms of HTS and their potential therapeutic implications. Fibroblasts derived from skin HTS were cultured and characterized in vitro. The fibroblasts were synchronized and randomly assigned to two groups: cyclic stretch and cyclic stretch pre-treated with SB203580 (a p38MAPK inhibitor). Cyclic stretch at 10% strain was applied at a loading frequency of 10 cycles per minute (i.e. 5 seconds of tension and 5 seconds of relaxation) for 0 h, 6 h and 12 h. Cyclic stretch on HTS fibroblasts led to an increase in the expression of α-SMA and TGF-ß1 mRNA and protein and the phosphorylation of p38MAPK. SB203580 reversed these effects and caused a decrease in matrix contraction. Furthermore, HTS fibroblast growth was partially blocked by p38MAPK inhibition. Therefore, the mechanism of cyclic stretch involves p38 MAPK, and its inhibition is suggested as a novel therapeutic strategy for HTS.
Subject(s)
Cicatrix, Hypertrophic/metabolism , Fibroblasts/cytology , Fibroblasts/metabolism , Skin/cytology , p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/metabolism , Blotting, Western , Cell Differentiation/drug effects , Cells, Cultured , Cicatrix, Hypertrophic/pathology , Fibroblasts/drug effects , Humans , Imidazoles/pharmacology , Phosphorylation/drug effects , Pyridines/pharmacology , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Skin/drug effects , p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/antagonists & inhibitorsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To explore the signal transduction mechanism of p38 mitogen activated protein kinase (p38MAPK) in human facial hypertrophic scar fibroblast (FB) differentiation into myofibroblasts (MFB). METHODS: Fibroblasts of primary culture were simple randomly assigned into two groups: cyclic stretch (control group) and cyclic stretch pre-treated with SB203580(experimental group). Expression of P-p38MAPK and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) protein were examined using Western blotting and expression of transforming growth factor ß1 (TGF-ß1) mRNA and α-SMA mRNA were examined using reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR). RESULTS: In control group, the expressions of α-SMA, p38MAPK, TGF-ß1 mRNA and α-SMA mRNA (0 h: 0.134 ± 0.011, 0.239 ± 0.015, 0.214 ± 0.018, 0.252 ± 0.010; 6 h: 0.152 ± 0.014, 0.287 ± 0.016, 0.288 ± 0.011, 0.277 ± 0.013; 12 h: 0.172 ± 0.017, 0.320 ± 0.017, 0.335 ± 0.013, 0.297 ± 0.006) , were significantly increased with loading time (6 h>0 h; 12 h>0 and 6 h). In experimental group (pre-treated with SB203580), the expressions of α-SMA, p38MAPK, TGF-ß1 mRNA,α-SMA mRNA (6 h: 0.116 ± 0.017,0.128 ± 0.016,0.134 ± 0.014,0.163 ± 0.009; 12 h: 0.149 ± 0.013,0.136 ± 0.018,0.144 ± 0.013,0.187 ± 0.010) on corresponding time decreased sharply compared with those in control groups (6, 12 h). CONCLUSIONS: The human facial hypertrophic scar fibroblasts differentiation in response to cyclic stretch was mediated by p38MAPK phosporylation.
