Background.
Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF), a
precancerous condition, is characterized by abnormal accumulation of
collagen fibers in oral submucosa.
Vimentin is a Class 2 intermediate filament (IF) and primarily expressed in cells of mesenchymal origin.
Vimentin is also found to be involved in cell growth, cell cycling, and tumour differentiation. Objective. The purpose of the study was to compare the expression of
vimentin in various histological grades of OSF. Materials and Methods. To assess the immunohistochemical expression of
vimentin in 20 mild cases of OSF, 20 severe cases of OSF, and ten cases of normal oral buccal mucosa. Results. The overall staining intensity of
vimentin significantly increased statistically (P < 0.01) in OSF cases over normal control. A significant increase in the staining intensity of
vimentin was also noted in the fibroblasts of severe cases of OSF (P = 0.03). Conclusion. Considering the marked
vimentin expression in the present study, future studies should include cytoskeleton IF and other filaments in the fibroblasts of OSF.