Areca nut extracts up-regulate the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 in oral mucosal fibroblasts

doi:10.3321/j.issn:1673-8225.2003.14.006

Abstract：Aim Areca nut chewing has been associated with the incidence of oral submucous fibrosis (OSF),however the related mechanism is not clear.The study aimed to investigate the roles of fibroblasts and intercellular adhesion molecular-1(ICAM-1) in the pathogenesis of OSF and to evidence the hypotheses related the mechanism of OSF induced by areca nut chewing by comparing the difference of ICAM-1 expression in fibroblasts obtained from oral submucous fibrosis buccal mucosa and normal buccal mucosa and observing the effects of areca nut extracts (ANE) on the expression of ICAM-1 in oral fibroblasts.Methods All subjects were treated at the Department of Stomatology,the Second Xiangya Hospital,Central South University,Changsha,China during the period from 1997 to 1998.Eleven specimens were obtained from OSF patients (male 8,female 3).All subjects had written proper informed consent.Diagnosis of OSF was based on clinical and histological features.Eleven biopsy specimens of normal buccal mucosa (male 6, female 5) were obtained from non-Areca nut chewers who had not the abuse of alcohol and chili and were used as controls.Fibroblasts were obtained from normal buccal mucosa (NM-FB) and OSF buccal mucosa (OSF-FB) and cultured in vitro.Then the expression of ICAM-1 incubated with or without areca nut extract in the presence of 10% fetal calf serum for 48 h at 37 ℃ in 5% CO2 and air were measured by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Results OSF-FB expressed ICAM-1 at high level (0.386± 0.099) as compared to that of NM-FB (0.324± 0.030) (F=18.177, P=0.001).Areca nut extracts (50- 150 μ g/ml) up-regulated ICAM-1 expression in a concentration-dependent manner in both cell types.Conclusion These data suggest that areca nut components might induce the development of OSF by up-regulating ICAM-1 expression of FB and indirectly stimulating the fibrotic process.