Analysis of salivary secretor status in patients with oral submucous fibrosis: a case-control study.
OBJECTIVE
Many individuals have various tobacco-related habits, yet only some develop clinical manifestation of lesions. This raises the question of whether there any inherent or host risk factors involved in the pathogenesis which need to be further investigated. The aim of the present study was to analyze the ABO antigen, secretor status, and blood groups of patients.


METHODS
The study consisted of 99 participants, with 33 patients allocated to three groups: (a) patients with a tobacco-related habit and oral submucous fibrosis (OSF); (b) patients with a tobacco-related habit, but no lesions; and (c) healthy controls. A total of 1 mL unstimulated saliva was collected in a sterile test tube, and the Wiener agglutination test was performed to analyze the ABO antigen in all three groups.


RESULTS
All of the OSF patients were non-secretors, whereas 84.8% were non-secretors in the group of individuals with habits as compared to 15.2% in the healthy group. A statistically-significant difference was observed between the OSF and healthy groups. The patients in the OSF group were predominantly blood-group A, followed by groups O, B, and AB.


CONCLUSIONS
There is a correlation between salivary secretor status and the development of OSF. Thus, non-secretors are at greater risk of and more prone to the development of oral lesions. Blood-groups A and O predominate over the B and AB blood groups.
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Sri Dharamasthala Manjunatheshwara College of Dental Sciences & Hospital, Dharwad, Karnataka, India.
Kaveri
K
Hallikeri
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Sri Dharamasthala Manjunatheshwara College of Dental Sciences & Hospital, Dharwad, Karnataka, India.
Ravichandra
R
Udupa
Department of Oral Diagnosis and Radiology, Sri Dharamasthala Manjunatheshwara College of Dental Sciences & Hospital, Dharwad, Karnataka, India.
Krutika
K
Guttal
Department of Oral Diagnosis and Radiology, Sri Dharamasthala Manjunatheshwara College of Dental Sciences & Hospital, Dharwad, Karnataka, India.
Venktesh
V
Naikmasur
D000017:ABO Blood-Group System / Q000032:analysis*; D001114:Areca; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D006801:Humans; D009914:Oral Submucous Fibrosis / Q000097:blood*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*; D064424:Tobacco Use / Q000097:blood; D014030:Tobacco, Smokeless
D000017:ABO Blood-Group System
blood group; carcinoma; oral submucous fibrosis; saliva; secretor status