ABSTRACT
Immunofluorescence is an immunohistochemical method used to demonstrate the presence of antigen and antibodies in the tissues or serum. It is an auxiliary diagnostic tool for the autoimmune bullous and inflammatory disorders. It detects the in situ and circulating immune deposits that are involved in the pathogenesis of immunobullous diseases.
ABSTRACT
Oral mucosal melanoma is a rare malignancy with the tendency to metastasize and locally invade tissues more readily than other malignant tumor of the oral cavity. It occurs approximately four times more frequently in the oral mucosa of the upper jaw usually on the palate or alveolar gingiva. The chameleonic presentation of malignant melanoma, its asymptomatic condition, rarity of the lesion, poor prognosis and the necessity of a highly specialized treatment are factors that should be seriously considered by the involved health care provider. Herein we report a rare and interesting case of oral malignant melanoma of the maxillary anterior gingiva, which was clinically and histopathologically diagnosed with a brief review of literature, has been discussed.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Nitric oxide (NO) is a ubiquitous intercellular messenger molecule with important cardiovascular, neurological, and immune functions. In addition, it has been postulated that the pharmacological inhibition of NO or its actions may be therapeutically valuable in the disease management. The levels of nitric oxide may provide clues about the severity and the state of the underlying disease process. It could be an inflammatory biomarker that may enable clinicians to direct the environmentally based prevention or treatment programmes and to establish whether NO plays a role in the pathogenesis of periodontitis or not. Hence, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the salivary and the serum levels of NO in generalized chronic and aggressive periodontitis. The Study Design: Unstimulated whole saliva and serum samples were collected from a total of 60 subjects who were in the age group of 18-45 years, who participated in this study. They were divided into three equal groups with 20 subjects in each group; group A (healthy controls), group B (chronic periodontitis) and group C (aggressive periodontitis). The clinical parameters were assessed, based on the oral hygiene index simplified (OHI-S), the gingival index (GI), the probing pocket depth and the clinical attachment loss (CAL). A biochemical analysis was performed to evaluate and compare the salivary and the serum nitric oxide levels of the above groups. Statistical Analysis and Results: The statistical comparisons were done under the Griess Reaction. There were statistically significant salivary and serum levels of NO in the groups of periodontitis (group B and C) as compared to those in the healthy controls (group A). A significant positive correlation was found between the values of the salivary and the serum NO levels in chronic and aggressive periodontitis. CONCLUSION: Nitric oxide is a potent modulator of the inflammatory disease processes and under pathological conditions, NO has damaging effects. As there is a paucity in the studies which have compared chronic and aggressive periodontitis, this study paved an interest for combining the serum and the salivary analysis in comparing the levels of nitric oxide in chronic and aggressive periodontitis.
