Role of Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1α messenger RNA expression in malignant transformation of oral submucous fibrosis

Abstract

Background: Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is an oral potentially malignant disorder depicting extensive fibrosis of the submucosa affecting most parts of the oral cavity, including pharynx and upper third of the oesophagus. Despite its high potentially malignant nature, transformation of the epithelium towards malignancy in the background of fibrosis has not been studied extensively till date. Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1α (HIF-1α) is a master transcription factor that is induced by hypoxia and has found to be significantly associated with both fibrosis and malignancy. Aim: To test the hypothesis of differential expression of HIF-1α in malignant transformation of OSF. Materials and methods: Fifteen samples each of Normal Mucosa (NOM), OSF and Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) making total of 45 tissues were studied by formalin fixed Haematoxylin and Eosin (H&E)-stained sections and frozen fixed for Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). The relationship between differential HIF-1α messenger RNA expression level and oral epithelial dysplasia, inter incisal opening and grade of OSCC was studied. Conclusions: An upregulation of HIF-1α expression level is positively correlated with oral carcinogenesis and grade of OSCC, whereas downregulation is associated with fibrosis. Hence, it can be used as both diagnostic as well as a prognostic marker.

Salivary Expression of HIF-1 α in Oral Submucous Fibrosis

“…However the comparison of our study with study by Hande and coworkers had certain limitations like the difference in sample used (saliva vs. tissue) and analytical techniques employed in the studies (ELISA vs. immunohistochemistry). Pereira, Dalmia, Chaudhry and Tilakaratne also evaluated HIF-1α expression in OSMF and controls and showed statistically significant results [17][18][19][20] . Again, these researches involved tissue biopsy, immunohistochemistry and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for biomarker identification.…”