Study on pathogenesis of inveterate oral mucous membrane diseases : Investigation of superoxide anion generation from peripheral blood neutrophils and various plasma cytokine levels

本研究的目的是通过检查双乌药碱生物碱（BA ;千金藤素^<[○！在日本出云市的Nihon-Igaku-Rinshokensa-Kenkyusho，通过细胞色素C还原测定O_2 ^-生成，并通过酶联免疫吸附试验测定血浆细胞因子水平。结果表明：（1）BA对口腔扁平苔藓（OLP）、复发性口疮和放射性口腔粘膜炎有明显的改善作用。(2)BA OLP患者治疗后O_2 ~-产生水平及临床症状改善程度均较治疗前明显降低（P<0.02）。(3)OLP患者血浆TNF-α、IL-β水平随病程的延长而下降，随着临床症状的改善而下降，提示OLP患者外周血中性粒细胞产生O_2^-及血浆TNF-α、IL-β等多种细胞因子可能与OLP的发病密切相关，而其它疾病如复发性口疮、白斑和辐射引起的口腔粘膜炎仍然是本研究的主题。

The purpose of this study was to investigate the pathogenesis of various oral membrane diseases by examining the effects of biscoclaurine alkaloids (BA ; cepharanthin^<【○!R】>) on clinical symptoms and plasma cytokine levels, superoxide anion (O_2^-) generation from peripheral blood neutrophils in patients.O_2^- generation was measured in terms of cytochrome C reduction, and plasma cytokine level was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay at Nihon-Igaku-Rinshokensa-Kenkyusho (Izumo City, Japan). The results were as follows :(1) The symptoms in oral lichen planus (OLP), recurrent aphtha and radiation-induced oral mucositis were improved by the administration of BA.(2)BA effectively reduced the O_2^- generation in OLP.Both the post-treatment period level of O_2^- generation, and the degree of clinical symptoms in patients with OLP were significantly lower (p<0.02) compared to those of the pre-treatment period.(3) A decreasing tendency in plasma TNF-α and IL-β levels according to the clinical courses of the patients with OLP was observed when the clinical symptoms were improved.These results suggest that the overproduction of O_2^- from peripheral blood neutrophils and various plasma cytokines such as TNF-α and IL-β may be closely related to pathogenesis of OLP.However, the pathogenesis of the other diseases such as recurrent aphtha, leukoplakia, and radiation-induced oral mucositis is still a theme of this research.