Biology and Medicine

Abstract

Subclinical changes of oral mucosa in Hansen's disease - a histopathological and immunohistochemical study

N Anuja, HJ Sherlin, S Anandan, NJ Mani, N Malathi

Leprosy is a crippling disease with an associated social stigma. The disease is widely prevalent in India, which is one of the endemic areas for the disease. Its oral manifestations though described, is very rare. Twenty established cases of leprosy from various hospitals were taken up in the study. Thirteen were in the lepromatous variety and seven were in the tuberculoid variety. None of the cases had any oral lesions. Biopsies were taken from the buccal mucosa and histopathological sections were studied by Hematoxylin and eosin, Wade-fite and S-100 immunoperoxidase stain. The results showed positivity for Mycobacterium leprae in 5 cases of lepromatous leprosy by Wade fit technique. S-100 immunoperoxidase stain revealed nerve changes in the form of fragmentation in cases positive for Mycobacterium leprae. These findings show that even in the absence of clinically observable oral lesions, tissue changes in oral tissues do happen in some cases of leprosy and the causative organism Mycobacterium leprae can be demonstrated.