INTRODUCTION: Oral lichen planus is a common chronic inflammatory muco-cutaneous disease. Although the cause of oral lichen planus is not well known, T-lymphocyte infiltrate suggests a cell mediated immunological damage to basal cell layer of the epithelium. Its suggested treatment is topical corticosteroid. A promising new treatment for oral lichen planus [OLP] is the topical application of hyaluronic acid [HA], which has shown beneficial effect on wound healing. OBJECTIVES: to evaluate the effect of hyaluronic acid gel in the treatment of erosive oral lichen planus in comparison with topically applied corticosteroids. MATERIALS AND METHODS: a randomized, parallel, controlled clinical study was conducted on twenty patients who were randomly divided into two groups. Group I received topical application of corticosteroid (triamcinolone acetonide) 4-5 daily, for 28 days and Group II was similarly treated using hyaluronic acid 0.2% gel. Subjective symptom and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) were recorded at base line, after 10 days and at 3 months. The objective sign clinical score was recorded at baseline, 1 and 3 months post-treatment. RESULTS: Both groups showed decrease in the lesion size and symptoms of OLP. The HA treated group showed a significantly higher decrease in the pain score in comparison to the corticosteroid treated group. Regarding the healing score, the corticosteroid group showed superior results than that shown with the HA. CONCLUSIONS: HA 0.2% gel is effective in the treatment of OLP, it resulted in a decrease in symptoms and signs of the disease. HA resulted in more control of pain when compared to topical corticosteroid.

Background: To evaluate the effectiveness of Microlux/DL with and without toluidine blue in screening of potentially malignant and malignant oral lesions. Materials and Methods: In this diagnostic clinical trial clinical examination was carried out by two teams: 1) two oral medicine consultants, and 2) two general dentists. Participants were randomly and blindly allocated for each examining team. A total of 599 tobacco users were assessed through conventional oral examination (COE); the examination was then repeated using Microlux/DL device and toluidine blue. Biopsy of suspicious lesions was performed. Also clinicians opinions regarding the two tools were obtained. Results: The sensitivity and, specificity and positive predictive value (PVP) of Microlux/DL for visualization of suspicious premalignant lesions considering COE as a gold standard (i.e screening device) were 94.3%, 99.6% and 96.2% respectively, while they were 100%, 32.4% and 17.9% when considering biopsy as a gold standard. Moreover, Microlux/DL enhanced detection of the lesion and uncovered new lesions compared to COE, whereas it did not alter the provisional clinical diagnosis, or alter the biopsy site. On the other hand, adding toluidine blue dye did not improve the effectiveness of the Microlux/DL system. Conclusions: The Microlux/DL seems to be a promising adjunctive screening device.

Background The concept of personalized therapy has been proven to be a promising approach. A popular technique is to utilize gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as drug delivery vectors for cytotoxic drugs and small molecule inhibitors to target and eradicate oral cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Both drug and nanocarrier designs play important roles in the treatment efficacy. In our study, we standardized the nanosystem regarding NPs type, size, surface ligands and coverage percentage leaving only the drugs mode of action as the confounding variable. We propose that similarly constructed nanoparticles (NPs) can selectively leverage different conjugated drugs irrelevant to their original mode of action. If proven, AuNPs may have a secondary role beyond bypassing cancer cell membrane and delivering their loaded drugs. Methods We conjugated 5- fluorouracil (5Fu), camptothecin (CPT), and a fibroblast growth factor receptor1-inhibitor (FGFR1i) to gold nanospheres (AuNSs). We followed their trajectories in Syrian hamsters with chemically induced buccal carcinomas. Results Flow cytometry and cell cycle data shows that 5Fu- and CPT- induced a similar ratio of S-phase cell cycle arrest as nanoconjugates and in their free forms. On the other hand, FGFR1i-AuNSs induced significant sub-G1 cell population compared with its free form. Despite cell cycle dynamics variability, there was no significant difference in tumor cells’ proliferation rate between CPT-, 5Fu- and FGFR1i- AuNSs treated groups. In our in vivo model, FGFR1i-AuNSs induced the highest tumor reduction rates followed by 5Fu- AuNSs. CPT-AuNSs induced significantly lower tumor reduction rates compared with the 5Fu- and FGFR1i- AuNSs despite showing similar proliferative rates in tumor cells. Conclusions Our data indicates that the cellular biological events do not predict the outcome seen in our in vivo model. Furthermore, our results suggest that AuNSs selectively enhance the therapeutic effect of small molecule inhibitors such as FGFR1i than potent anticancer drugs. Future studies are required to better understand the underlying mechanism.

INTRODUCTION: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has the highest mortality rates among all carcinomas and is the most common head and neck cancer. Several natural compounds and micronutrients have been under investigation for their efficacy in head and neck cancer chemoprevention. Green tea contains various cancer preventive catechins that have a role in preventing cancer recurrence in various organs in humans. Curcumin, a natural polyphenol, is one of the most investigated biomolecules from Mother Nature. Curcumin has been shown to exert significant growth inhibitory effect on oral precancerous and carcinoma cell lines, and the effect is synergistic with epigallocatechin gallate, the most abundant polyphenol in tea. OBJECTIVES: To assess the chemopreventive effects of green tea and curcumin through induction of hamster buccal pouch carcinoma by using an apoptotic marker and compare their effect each alone and in combination. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Squamous cell carcinoma was chemically induced in fifty Syrian golden hamsters divided into 5 groups (10 each). The first group was used as normal control group. The second group received the carcinogenic agent only. The other three groups received green tea, curcumin and combination of both, respectively. RESULTS: Normal control group (A) revealed neither pathological nor inflammatory changes in the buccal pouch with 1.72% of the cells underwent apoptosis while the cells of positive control group (B) resulted in 11.57% apoptosis. In the study groups, treatment of the cells with green tea (C), curcumin (D) and both of them (E) resulted in 82.22 %, 78.91%, 96.63% apoptosis respectively. The fluorescent image by confocal laser scanning in group B showed increase of the red fluorescence in the nucleus and cytoplasm of the squamous cell carcinoma cells indicating high proliferating cells while the fluorescent image of group C, D and E showed decrease of the red florescence in the nuclei of the squamous cell carcinoma cells indicating low proliferation. CONCLUSIONS: Green tea and curcumin have a significant chemopreventive effect against oral carcinogenesis and the combination of both agents has a better effect.

INTRODUCTION:Squamous cell carcinoma is one of the malignant diseases that affect the oral cavity worldwide. One of the theories regarding oral carcinogenesis is that tumor growth is dependent on cancer stem cells. Markers specific for these cells as CD44 have been investigated in hope of developing a deeper understanding for their role in carcinogenesis. Genistein, as chemopreventive agent, has been shown to suppress the growth of several tumors. Oxaliplatin is a chemotherapeutic compound that did show a range of antitumor activity. OBJECTIVES: This research was carried out to study the effect of genistein, oxaliplatin either alone or in combination during experimentally DMBA induced hamster buccal pouch carcinogenesis using CD44 antibody as a marker. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 100 young Syrian hamsters distributed into groups as follows: 4 normal animals examined for the histology of the normal pouch mucosa and 96 animals divided into; group I, as a control group, in which pouches were painted with a heavy mineral oil only; group II were painted with DMBA mixed in a heavy mineral oil. These animals were randomly divided into 4 subgroups as following: group IIA only painted with DMBA; group IIB where genistein was orally administrated; group IIC were injected with oxaliplatin; and group IID in which both genistein and oxaliplatin were given. RESULTS: Both genistein and oxaliplatin provided a significant reduction in carcinogenesis process of DMBA induced oral squamous cell carcinoma. Moreover, they provided a significant decrease in the proliferation and activity of cancer stem cells as measured by the CD44 antibody. CONCLUSIONS: Genistein provides a chemoprevention role and the oxaliplatin produces a chemotherapeutic effect during the process of carcinogenesis. The combined action of both agents was better than the effect of each agent alone.

Introduction Chemoprevention refers to using specific substances during oncogenesis. Curcumin and catechins are both polyphenol types of phytochemicals present in curcuma longa and green tea. The effect of curcumin is synergistic with epigallocatechin gallate, the most abundant polyphenol in tea. Aim To evaluate and compares the chemopreventive effect of both green tea and curcumin (each individually and in combination) through induction of hamster buccal pouch carcinoma. Materials and methods Squamous cell carcinoma was chemically induced in fifty Syrian golden hamsters divided into 5 groups (10 each). The first group was used as a normal control group. The second group received the carcinogenic agent only. The other three groups received green tea, curcumin, and a combination of both, respectively. Flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, and immunohistochemical assays were used to evaluate apoptosis, proliferation, and angiogenesis. ANOVA test was used to analyze the results between the study groups. Results The cells of the positive control group (B) resulted in 11.57% apoptosis. In the study groups, treatment of the cells with green tea (C), and curcumin (D) and both of them (E) showed increased apoptosis. The fluorescent image in group B showed an increase of the red fluorescence in the nucleus and cytoplasm of the squamous cell carcinoma cells while groups C, D, and E showed a decrease of the red fluorescence in the nuclei of the squamous cell carcinoma cells. The microvessel density was higher in the positive control group as compared to the treated groups. Conclusions The combination of green tea and curcumin has a significant chemopreventive effect against oral carcinogenesis.

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INTRODUCTION:Stem cells constitute the source of differentiated cells for the generation of tissues during development, as well as for regeneration of tissues that are diseased or injured postnatally. The stem cell research has grown exponentially to improve the life of patients with conditions that span from Alzheimer's disease, cardiac ischemia to bone or tooth loss. In dentistry, stem cell biology and tissue engineering are of great interest since they may provide an innovative for generation of clinical material and/or tissue regeneration. Mesenchymal stem cells were demonstrated in dental tissues, including dental pulp, periodontal ligament, dental papilla, and dental follicle. These stem cells can be isolated and grown under defined tissue culture conditions and are potential cells for use in tissue engineering including dental tissue, nerves and bone regeneration under appropriate conditions. This review was performed to study the concepts of stem cells and the most recent application of dental stem cells.