Interleukin-1 ß in Oral Submucous Fibrosis, Verrucous Hyperplasia and Squamous Cell Carcinoma Tissues

Interleukin-1 s (IL-1 s ) has been proven to be a multi-effect mediator of inflammation including in the promotion of inflammatory cells to move from blood to inflamed tissues, the regulation of the synthesis and decomposition of extra-cellular matrix, and indirectly in causing bone resorption and inhibition of bone growth. In this study, the amounts of IL-1 s in the biopsied specimens of normal oral mucosa, oral submucous fibrosis (OSF), oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), and verrucous hyperplasia (VerH) were quantified by ELISA. The results showed that the amounts of IL-1 s (pg per mg tissue, mean ± SD) in normal oral mucosa, OSF, OSCC, and VerH were 1.01 ± 0.53, 0.76 ± 0.56, 4.37 ± 087 and 3.97 ± 1.93 respectively. There were no significant differences (p＞0.05, Mann-Whitney U Test) between the amounts of IL-1 s in normal oral mucosa and OSF, and between VerH and OSCC. However, a significant difference in IL-1 s level was found (p＜0.01) between normal oral mucosa and OSCC or VerH. Immunohistochemistry staining technique using antibody against IL-1 s showed positive staining in hyperplastic epithelium (VerH) and tumor cells of OSCC. These results might suggest a correlation between the amounts of IL-1 s in oral precancerous and cancerous lesions and cell transformation. On the other hand, the amount of IL-1 s did not change significantly as OSF progressed. Thus, IL-1 s levels may not be useful to gauge the seriousness of fibrosis, but the gradual increase in IL-1 s level from normal oral mucosa through VerH to OSCC suggests that IL-1 s may play an important role in oral carcinogenesis.