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Myoepithelial cells (MEC) are found in the secretory units of many mammalian exocrine glands such as mammary, sweat, lacrimal and salivary glands. They are interposed between the secretory cells and the basal lamina. Immunohistochemically they are found to contain keratin intermediate filaments and are, therefore, considered to have an epithelial origin but at the same time they contain a large number of myofilaments which represent a massive expression of contractile proteins such as actin, myosin, calponin and caldesmon. Thus have smooth muscle like property also and hence the name. Numerous functions of MEC have been described, the most important of them being important for contraction of the glands and recently it has been found to prevent tumour progression. It should be noted that the diversity in the occurrence and dilemma regarding the pathogenesis of salivary gland tumours is due to lack in uniformity regarding the cells participating in its oncogenesis, especially the MEC. Also proper and extensive studies regarding MEC are very limited and thus have posed difficulty for a pathologist to understand this cell. In this review we try to bring about a thorough description of this cell in both physiological and pathological aspects.

TSCs are capable of eliciting a favorable cellular response in periapical regeneration.

It is a well known fact that oral lichen planus (OLP) is a non infectious disease affecting the oral mucous membrane. It is considered to be an autoimmune disorder mediated mainly by the T-lymphocytes. It affects 1-2% of the general population with maximum prevelance seen among women above the age of 40. WHO considers it to be a potentially malignant disorder and the rate of malignant transformation has been put between 0.5-2%. This article mainly reviews the various pathogenetic mechanisms by which this unique disorder occurs along with the clinical, histopathological and treatment aspects.

Background:Oral lichen planus (OLP) is one of the potentially malignant disorders (PMDs) with a malignancy rate of 0.2-2%. Aneuploidy is considered to be one of the important markers for malignant transformation and DNA-image cytometry (DIC) has been successfully employed in oral mucosal PMDs and also in tumors of the cervix, lung and biliary tract.Aims:In this study, we intend to assess the ploidy status of exfoliated cells in OLP using DIC.Materials and Methods:Exfoliated cells from 48 patients with different subtypes of OLP (reticular, plaque type, erosive and atrophic) and 10 controls were stained using Feulgen reaction and assessed for integrated optical density using image analysis software and the ploidy status was assessed.Results:All the patients in the control group and most of the patients (93.5%) who had reticular or plaque type of OLP (29 out of 31) exhibited diploid nuclei in the smears, whereas 11 patients who had erosive or atrophic types of OLP showed aneuploid nuclei.Conclusions:The patients with erosive or atrophic types of OLP are at more risk and assessment of ploidy status by exfoliative cytology can be used as an adjuvant for diagnosis.

These results suggest that diabetes influences the composition of saliva. Since a significant correlation was not observed between salivary and blood glucose levels, further research is needed to determine salivary glucose estimation as a diagnostic tool for diabetes mellitus.

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