Oral microcirculation observed in vivo by videocapillaroscopy: a review

Abstract

Capillaroscopy is a non-invasive diagnostictechnique that is fundamental in viewing peripheral circulation and in studying microangiopathies. The morphological study of microcirculation is of fundamental importance, mainly because the microvascular bed is directly involved in the etiopathogenesis of autoimmune disorders and acute and chronic inflammatory pathological conditions. The value of capillaroscopic investigation as a diagnostic means in cases of peripheral microcirculation disorders has been confirmed by numerous studies. Other studies used capillaroscopic investigations to evaluate microcirculation damage not as a complication of disease (diabetes), but as its initial stage, and therefore to make a diagnosis. Capillaroscopy is an interesting method of studying microcirculation, because of the possibility of studying small vessels in vivo by means of a microscope. Today, it has become more reliable, thanks to the development of observation tools (photography, videomicroscopy). This review describes in detail various aspects of the microcirculation of the oral mucosa. (J Oral Sci 51, 1-10, 2009)

Curcumin Mediates Both Dilation and Constriction of Peripheral Arterioles via Adrenergic Receptors

“…The buccal mucosa of the hamster has a 2 dimensional microcirculation, which greatly facilitates direct microscopic examination of vasoactive responses. In humans, both the buccal mucosa and cutaneous microcirculation consist of 3 dimensional capillary loops, which arise from deeper feeding arterioles (Braverman, 1997; Scardina, Ruggieri and Messina, 2009). However, the diverse tissues display a similar vasoactive response capability (Gyorfi, Fazekas, Rosivall, 1992; Oaklander and Siegel, 2005) to what is found for the hamster cheek pouch (Frame and Mabanta, 2007; Frame, Rivers, Altland et al, 2007; Georgi, Dewar and Frame, 2010), likely due to a similar vascular receptor distribution that includes adrenergic, muscarinic and endothelin receptors (Hardman and Limbird, 2001).…”

Capillaroscopic evaluation of smoking and non-smoking patients’ gingival margin

“…Çalışmamızda, sigara kullanımının klinik olarak sağlıklı, gingivitisli ve periodontitisli bireylerin dişeti mikrovasküler yapısına etkisi videokapilleroskopi yöntemi ile değerlendirilmiştir. Oral videokapilleroskopi tekniği, mikrodolaşımı in vivo gözleme fırsatı tanıyan, invaziv olmayan, pratik, tekrarlanabilir ve objektif bir tekniktir (12). Çalışma sonuçlarımız, kapiller sayısının ve alanının hastalık şiddetiyle doğru orantılı olarak arttığını ancak sigara tüketimin damarlanmayı azalttığını göstermektedir ve bu sonuçlara bağlı olarak sıfır hipotezi reddedilmiştir.…”

Changes of oral microcirculation in chemotherapy patients: A possible correlation with mucositis?

“…The images were acquired and evaluated with the "Videocap 3.0" proprietary software (Scardina et al, 2009).…”