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.