Influência do infiltrado inflamatório subepitelial nas características do tecido epitelial das lesões de líquen plano oral: estudo morfológico

Abstract

Introduction: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory disease, considered a potentially malignant oral disorder, which immunological mechanisms are associated with its development. It is believed that the pathogenesis of OLP is related to an intense subepithelial inflammatory infiltrate, that plays an important role in the damage suffered by the epithelial tissue. Chronic inflammation has also been strongly associated with the malignancy of this condition. Objective: To verify the association between the severity of the inflammatory infiltrate and epithelial characteristics observed in OLP lesions. Materials and methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study, with a sample comprising a total of 41 histological sections of OLP stained with Hematoxylin-Eosin, belonging to the Oral Pathology Laboratories of two higher education institutions in Bahia. Histological analyzes were performed using a light optical microscope with 10x and 40x objectives. The morphological aspects evaluated were: the presence and count of Civatte bodies, lymphocytic exocytosis, degeneration of the basal layer and the degree of tissue inflammation. Results: In the studied sample, there was a prevalence of severe tissue inflammation (85.4%). The prevalence of exocytosis, degeneration of the basal layer and civatte bodies were 72.5%, 82.9% and 76.3%, respectively. There was no significant association between the degree of tissue inflammation and the presence of exocytosis, degeneration of the basal layer and Civatte bodies (p>0.05). It wasn’t observed a significant difference in the amount of Civatte bodies between the different degrees of concentration (p>0.05) and there was no significant association between the presence of exocytosis and the presence of degeneration of the basal layer and Civatte bodies (p>0 .05). The number of Civatte bodies did not differ significantly between samples with absence or presence of exocytosis (p>0.05). Conclusion: In this study, no significant associations were found between the severity of the subepithelial inflammatory infiltrate and the characteristics confirmed in the epithelial tissue of OLP cases.