Hematinic Deficiency and the risk of Oral Epithelial Dysplasia

Abstract

Oral squamous cell carcinoma could be preceded by clinically evident oral potentially malignant disorders harboring oral epithelial dysplasia (OED. Hematinic deficiencies are associated with certain potentially malignant disorders and cancerous lesions. The aims of this study were: to evaluate the circulating levels of vitamin B 12 , folate status in patients with OED and to assess the impact tobacco smoking on these levels. To evaluate the circulating level of vitamin B 12 , serum folate, red blood cells folate among OED patients. Data were collected from 120 patients with OED and 120 healthy control Subjects matched for age and gender, selected from patients with oral diseases not caused by tobacco or alcohol or related to knowing hematinic deficiency. Most of patients with OED were current smokers of more than 20 cigarettes per day for more than 20 years compared with normal healthy control. A significant decrease in the serum levels of folate, red blood cell folate was found in OED compared to normal tobacco smokers (p<0.05). No significant differences in vitamin B 12 was found between OED cases and normal control subjects. These findings support the notion that OED may develop in persons who expose to tobacco smoking and have low folate level.