Detection of mast cells in ameloblastomas and odontogenic keratocysts

Background MCs (MCs) have been ascribed to mediating several diseases, including malignant neoplasms. These cells can play a role in angiogenesis, tissue remodeling and immune modulation and favor neoplasm progression. Despite the studies analyzing the contribution of MCs in odontogenic lesions, its biological behavior in ameloblastomas (AMBs) and odontogenic keratocysts (OKCs) remains unclear. This study aims to detect MCs in OKCs and AMBs and clarify the role of MCs in these lesions. Material and Methods A total of 40 odontogenic lesions were analyzed. This included 20 OKCs and 20 AMBs, 10 being the solid type and the other 10 being the unicystic type of AMB. All cases were histologically reviewed in hematoxylin-eosin. Clinical data, such as age, gender, location, size, radiographic presentation and, histologic patterns were collected from the clinical charts. The Mann-Whitney U test (MWU) was used verify the hypothesis, through inferential statistics. The level of significance used in the statistical test was 0.5%. Results MCs were observed in 60% of OKCs, and 35% of AMBs. The ratio of MCs observed in OKCs was 0.37, 0.48 in solid AMBs and 0.01 in unicystic AMBs. There was no significant difference between number of MCs in AMBs and OKCs, however, a significant difference was observed between solid and unicystic AMBs (p ≤ 0.01). Conclusions MCs may play an important role in the biological behavior of AMBs and OKCs. However, in this study it was not possible to confirm the contribution of MCs in the biological behavior of these lesions and more studies are needed to clarify this relation. Key words:AMB, OKC, MCs, histochemistry, toluidine blue.