title: Correlation of addictive factors, human papilloma virus infection and histopathology of oral submucous fibrosis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is a widely prevalent, potentially malignant disorder of the oral cavity in the Indian subcontinent. Areca nut has been incriminated as the main causative factor. However, other factors, including viruses may also play a role in the initiation/development of these lesions. This study was designed to assess the correlation of addictive factors, human papilloma virus infection and histopathology of OSMF.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and thirteen cases of OSMF were studied. Demographic information of each patient, including the patient's age, sex, addiction habits and histopathological grading was obtained. Presence of high-risk human papilloma virus (HR-HPV) DNA was detected using the Hybrid Capture II assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 105 cases finally included in the study, 33 (31.4%) patients were found to be positive for HR-HPV, while 72 (68.6%) were negative. A total of 52/105 (49.5%) patients chewed areca nut, of whom 18 (34.6%) patients were found to be positive and 34 (63.5%) were negative (P = 0.08). A total of 18/105 (17.1%) patients were addicted to smoking, of whom five (27.7%) were positive (0.69). Only one (11.1%) patient, who was only habituated to alcohol, was positive (1.08). Of the 105 patients 26 (24.7%) chewed as well as smoked tobacco, of whom, nine (34.6%) were positive and 17(65.3%) were negative (P = 0.67). Thus, there was no significant association between the various addiction habits and the presence of HR-HPV. On correlating the various histopathological grades of the disease with HR-HPV positivity a Pearson correlation of 0.053 was obtained (P = 0.588). Thus, again no significant correlation was observed between the different histopathological grades and HR-HPV positivity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In conclusion, it was found that there is neither significant correlation between HR-HPV infection and the various addiction habits nor with the different histopathological grades of the disease. To the best of our knowledge, a study of these different factors has never been attempted before in patients with OSMF.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Moti Lal Nehru Medical College, Allahabad, India. rm8509@gmail.com
authors.forename: Ravi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mehrotra
authors.forename: Ajay Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Chaudhary
authors.forename: Shruti
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pandya
authors.forename: Sharmistha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Debnath
authors.forename: Mangal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Mamta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Singh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects; D001114:Areca / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009914:Oral Submucous Fibrosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000150:complications*; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D019562:Viral Load; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral