Background:Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is a chronic debilitating disease of the oral cavity. Recent evidence appreciates the notion that the transformation of fibroblast to myofibroblasts is essential for the cells to perform these functions. Hence; we planned the present study to evaluate the expression of myofibroblasts in oral squamous cell carcinoma specimens.Materials & methods: A retrospective study was done on archival specimen of 20 oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) and 20 cases of normal oral mucosa (taken as normal control). Immunostaining was assessed by the evaluation of the staining intensity and percentage of α-SMA-positive cells. All the results were analyzed by SPSS software.Results: We observed that expression of α- SMA was significantly higher in OSMF specimens in comparison to normal control.Conclusion: Myofibroblasts play a definite role in the pathogenesis of OSMF.
Key words:α- Smooth muscle actin, Myofibroblasts, Oral Submucous fibrosis