Oxidative stress and recurrent aphthous stomatitis.

OBJECTIVES: This study analyzed the oxidative stress status in patients with recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) in the presence and absence of active ulceration.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Oxidative stress was analyzed in peripheral mononuclear cells of 28 RAS patients with active ulceration and 29 controls. A further blood sample was collected from nine subjects randomly selected from the 28 RAS cases, during the period in which the patients did not have active oral ulceration. The reduced glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) levels were measured in these samples.

RESULTS: The mean MDA and GSSG levels were significantly higher in patients with active RAS than in the controls, while GSH was lower in the RAS group (p < 0.01). There was a nonsignificant tendency toward higher MDA and GSSG levels in patients with major RAS compared with minor RAS. On comparing the serum findings in the nine RAS patients in the presence and absence of lesions, the presence of ulceration was associated with even higher MDA and GSSG levels and lower GSH concentrations (p < 0.05) CONCLUSIONS: Oxidative stress was detected in our RAS patients.