Objectives: The aim of study was to compare salivary and serum concentrations of interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), interleukin 6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) in patients with oral leukoplakia, oral cancer and healthy controls. Study design: Eighty eight patients (28 with oral cancer, 29 leukoplakia, and 31 healthy controls) were included in this study. Cytokine concentrations were measured by commercial enzyme linked immunoassay. Results: Salivary IL-1β and IL-6 were significantly higher in oral cancer patients than in patients with leukoplakia and control group (p<0.05). No differences in concentrations of salivary TNF-α between either of the groups were observed. Serum concentrations of IL-1β were below level of detection in all but two participants. No significant differences between the groups were observed in serum concentrations of IL-6. Serum TNF-α was significantly higher in control subjects than in oral cancer patients. Conclusions: Patients with oral cancer have elevated levels of inflammatory cytokines in their saliva. Whether this elevation can be used for monitoring the malignant transformation of oral leukoplakia remains to be answered by further follow up studies. Key words: Cytokines, oral, leukoplakia, cancer.

Salivary immunoglobulin subclasses vary in different oral mucosal conditions and may play a role in oral mucosal inflammatory diseases and/or reflect clinical changes in these conditions.

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Mravak‐Stipetic M, Gall‐Troselj K, Lukac J, Kusic Z, Pavelic K, Pavelic J: Detection of Helicobacter pylori in various oral lesions by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR). J Oral Pathol Med 1998; 27: 1–3. © Munksgaard, 1998. Nested PCR was used for the detection of Helicobacter pylori DNA in specimens collected from seven different topographic sites in the oral cavity. Out of 161 patients, only 21 (13.04%) were positive. There was no correlation between H. pylori status and patient diagnosis and age. No preferential site for bacterial colonization was found in the oral cavity, nor was an association established between a bacterial presence and ulcerated versus non‐ulcerated lesions. The results indicate that the oral mucosa does not appear to represent a preferred site of colonization for H. pylori. Furthermore, the evidence presented in this paper suggests that H. pylori is not pathogenic in the oral cavity, nor is it associated with common oral pathologic processes.

The changes in serum levels of serum amyloid A protein were studied in 67 patients suffering from colorectal carcinoma and compared to three other major acute phase proteins: C-reactive protein, alpha1-antichymotrypsin and alpha1-acid glycoprotein. Although the presence of colorectal carcinoma caused an increase in serum levels of all the acute phase reactants studied, serum amyloid A protein showed the most powerful reaction in pre-operative disease stage, with the mean value of 330 mg/l (range 7-2506 mg/l) as compared to the normal values of <1.2 mg/l obtained in 30 healthy adults. The mean serum amyloid A protein concentration increased to 487 mg/l after surgery, declining during the post-operative clinical course until the sixth chemotherapy cycle (from 167 mg/l to 64 mg/l), but never returned to the normal range. In the later chemotherapy cycles, mean serum amyloid A protein increased to 163 mg/l, probably as a result of the disease relapse. According to the statistical relations among exact confidence intervals for proportions, serum amyloid A protein showed the best specificity for colorectal carcinoma of all the acute phase proteins studied (83-100%) and also a sensitivity of 100%. We concluded that serum amyloid A protein seems to be a reliable parameter, which could be recommended for clinical routine as a non-specific tumour marker for colorectal carcinoma.

We might conclude that elevated salivary TNF-alpha levels during acute RAU and especially during the remission period are of importance in RAU, whereas salivary IL-6 levels seem not to play a role in the RAU disease.

No abstract

Salivary VEGF levels seemed to be associated with ulcer development in major RAU, showing stage-dependent alterations during the course of this disorder.