Exploring the mechanisms of alcohol-related damage in oral mucosa – is oxidative stress associated with the increase in cell proliferation in rat tongue epithelium?

Context: Alcohol consumption has been related to a cell proliferation increase in oral epithelium but its mechanism remains unclear.Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether oxidative stress parameters are implicated in the induction of cell proliferation in rat tongue epithelium after different times of chronic alcohol consumption.Materials and methods: Cell proliferation was assessed in tongue epithelium using AgNOR (argyrophilic proteins related to active nucleolar organizer regions) quantification. Oxidative stress parameters [lipid peroxidation, protein carbonyls, superoxide dismutase activity and catalase (CAT) activity and immunocontent] and Nrf2 immunocontent were quantified in tongue homogenates.Results and discussion: Mean AgNOR numbers (mAgNOR) per nucleus was 2.22 ± 0.30 in ventral tongue epithelium after 120 days of alcohol consumption (vs. 1.87 ± 0.18 for control animals and 1.91 ± 0.23 for animals treated with alcohol for 60 days) indicating cell proliferation increase (p ...