Effect of snuff and smoking on tenascin expression in oral mucosa

Abstract

We have shown, by using two monoclonal antibodies (143DB7 and 100EB2), that the expression of the extracellular matrix protein tenascin (Tn) is increased in the connective tissue of biopsies taken from snuff users' and tobacco smokers' oral mucosa. In normal oral mucosa Tn was seen to underlie the epithelium as a thin delicate band. The most increase in Tn reaction was observed in snuff users' mucosa while the immunoreaction in smokers' mucosa was less conspicuous. Often the most prominent Tn reaction took place in association with round cell inflammatory infiltration, indicating epithelial irritation. Tn has been shown to take part in epithelial-mesenchymal interactions during embryogenesis, wound healing and tumorigenesis. Here, a superficial epithelial irritant has been shown to cause conspicuous alterations not only in the epithelial cell layers but also in the underlying connective tissue by increasing its Tn content. As a result of our findings we suggest a further link for Tn in a dynamic epithelial-mesenchymal interplay by virtue of this marked connective tissue reaction in snuff users' and smokers' oral mucosa.

Relationship between inflammatory cells and structural changes in the lungs of asymptomatic and never smokers: a biopsy study

“…37 IL-1β has been shown to induce tenascin production by fibroblasts. 38 In a previous study snuff and smoking were shown to cause an increase in tenascin expression in oral mucosa, 39 results which may have a bearing on our findings. The thickness of the laminin layer was also correlated in univariate analysis with eosinophils and mast cells but, in contrast to the data on tenascin, multivariate analysis indicated that the eosinophils were the major independent factor with IL-1β as one minor but independently contributing factor.…”

Free Gingival Grafts: Graft Shrinkage and Donor‐Site Healing in Smokers and Non‐Smokers

“…A complete, but thin, layer of epithelium could result in complete epithelialization scoring by the H 2 O 2 method, while simultaneously appearing in a clinical picture as incomplete wound coverage. The negative effects of smoking and nicotine on epithelial cell proliferation 48,49 and the impact of smoking on epithelial‐connective tissue interactions, 50 interactions that are critical for optimal oral wound healing, 51 could explain the epithelialization delay observed in smokers in the present study.…”

Proliferation and differentation markers in snuff‐induced oral mucosal lesions

“…In addition to changes in the epithelia, snuff use may induce changes in the underlying lamina propria such as amorphous deposits in the dermal papillae, as a result of altered collagen structure (8). Increased expression of tenascin has also been reported (46). The present study showed that snuff stimulates the synthesis of collagen type IV probably by basal cells, which may also explain the amorphous deposits at the transition between the lamina propria and the submucosa found by other researchers.…”