title: Morphology of collagen fibers and elastic system fibers in actinic cheilitis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Actinic cheilitis (AC) is a premalignant condition intimately related to exposure of the lips to sun rays.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to evaluate the elastic and collagen fibers in the lamina propria of AC. The degree of epithelial atypia was correlated with the quantity of elastic and collagen fibers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-one cases were investigated. One slide was stained with hematoxylin-eosin for the evaluation of atypia, the second was stained with Weigert's resorcin-fuchsin for the assessment of elastic fibers, and the third slide was stained with Mallory's trichrome for the analysis of collagen fibers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ordinal logistic regression analysis revealed a significant correlation between the presence of atypia and collagen fibers (P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It was concluded that there seems to be a reduction in the quantity of collagen fibers in cases of moderate and severe atypia. No correlation was observed between the degradation of elastic system fibers and the grade of dysplasia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioscience and Oral Diagnosis, UNESP - São Paulo State University, São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil. flavia-cs@ig.com.br
authors.forename: Flavia C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Sgarbi
authors.forename: Fernanda
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bertini
authors.forename: Tabata de M
authors.initials: Tde M
authors.lastname: Tera
authors.forename: Ana Sueli R
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Cavalcante
mesh_terms: D001391:Azo Compounds; D002613:Cheilitis / Q000473:pathology; D003094:Collagen; D004396:Coloring Agents; D004547:Elastic Tissue / Q000473:pathology*; D004801:Eosine Yellowish-(YS); D004848:Epithelium / Q000473:pathology; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D006416:Hematoxylin; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008047:Lip Diseases / Q000473:pathology; D008048:Lip Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D008739:Methyl Green; D008853:Microscopy; D009078:Mucocele / Q000473:pathology; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000473:pathology; D012118:Resorcinols; D012394:Rosaniline Dyes; D013472:Sunlight / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: D001391:Azo Compounds; D004396:Coloring Agents; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D012118:Resorcinols; D012394:Rosaniline Dyes; C017768:trichrome stain; D008739:Methyl Green; D003094:Collagen; D004801:Eosine Yellowish-(YS); D006416:Hematoxylin; C031389:resorcinol