Abstract

MAST CELLS IN ORAL INFLAMMATORY LESIONS- A PILOT STUDY

Arpita Kabiraj*, Fahad M Samadi, Jagriti Gupta, Preeti Tomar Bhattacharya, Tanya Khaitan and Arun Singh

Abstract

Background: Paul Ehrlich first described mast cells in 1878 based on their unique staining characteristics and large granules and are considered part of the immune system. When triggered by locally produced cytokines or bacterial products the cells can release a number of pre stored mediators. They are characterized by the presence of densely packed cytoplasm with bright red granules that stain metachromatically with Toluidine blue, Azure A, Bismarch brown and Thionin. Aim & Objective: The present study was conducted to determine the distribution of mast cells and correlate their presence with the state of vascularity and inflammation with the metachromatic dye- 1% Toluidine blue. Results: The distribution was predominantly mild in most of the cases (80.95% cases) and moderate / severe in19.05% cases. The distribution of vascularity was found to be mild in 12.6% cases, whereas in rest of the 87.30% cases, the vascularity was found to be increased. The concentration of inflammatory cells was moderate to severe in 49 cases (77.77%), while only 14 cases (22.22%) showed mild inflammatory changes. Conclusion: The correlation between inflammation and mast cell distribution was thus, found to be inversely related whereas there was direct correlation between overall vascularity and inflammation in all the samples taken.

Keywords: Paul Ehrlich, metachromatically, Toluidine blue, Azure A, Bismarch brown and Thionin.