Effects of alcohol on the morphological and structural changes in oral mucosa

OBJECTIVE To investigate the morphological and structural changes of oral mucosa under the influence of alcohol. METHODS Sixty male and female specimens (42 males and 18 females) who died of chronic alcoholism were selected in this study. The specimens (5-7 mm) were sliced by the morphological-histological detection method, and stained by the HE and Spielmeyer (myelin staining) protocols respectively. Then five immune peroxidase chemical reaction tests were performed. RESULTS 10% of the tissue sections had epithelial hyperplasia points with hyperkeratosis and acanthosis. 90% of the sections had epithelial atrophy points with different degrees of damage, and had moderate infiltration of lymphocytes-macrophages in the basal oral mucosa simultaneously. For the tissue sections of patients who died of cardiovascular diseases with a history of alcoholism, about a half showed that extensive necrotic points were observed in different parts of oral mucosa, accompanied by a secondary infection. Approximately 15% of the sections had more dense and homogeneous necrotic tissues with microbial colonization, and the necrotic focus of 5% of the sections was located above the epithelial tissue, which was not distinctively different from other tissues. 48% of the sections were subjected to small nerve bundles with jeopardized deep oral mucosa, accompanied by necrosis of neuron axon and its myelin membrane. CONCLUSION The findings of this study show that drinking alcohol over an extended time may lead to carcinogenic changes in oral mucosa.