Year : 2022

Volume : Volume 13

Issue : Issue 4

Address for correspondence :
Dr. Himanshi
dr.himanshi@mmumullana.org

Abstract

Background: The basement membrane is a dynamic structure that undergoes quantitative and qualitative changes during the progression from oral epithelial dysplasia to squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), which is essentially important during invasion. Materials and Methods: Basement membrane expression was determined using periodic acid–Schiff (PAS), a histochemical stain, and type IV collagen immunohistochemical marker, in 70 diagnosed cases of oral epithelial dysplasia and oral SCC. Results: Continuous basement membrane expression was found in various grades of oral epithelial dysplasia using PAS staining technique. In type IV collagen staining, continuous basement membrane expression was found in mild and moderate dysplasia, but in severe dysplasia, discontinuous basement membrane expression was found in few cases. In oral SCC, discontinuity and absence of basement membrane expression increased with the increasing grades of oral SCC and no case in oral SCC showed continuous basement membrane expression. Statistically significant difference was seen between control and oral SCC (P < 0.05) and between oral epithelial dysplasia and oral SCC (P < 0.001) but statistically non-significant differences were found between control and oral epithelial dysplasia (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Alteration in the expression of type IV collagen in the basement membrane in oral epithelial dysplasia and oral SCC indicates that the loss of continuity of the subepithelial basement membrane parallels the progression of the neoplastic transformation process in oral epithelium.

Keywords: Basement membrane, Periodic acid–Schiff, Type IV collagen.