Efeito do fumo na expressão proteica da citoqueratina 19 (k19) em células epiteliais da mucosa bucal

Abstract

Objective: to compare the expression of cytokeratin 19 (K19) in epithelial cells of the oral mucosa of smokers, nonsmokers and former smokers. Methods: samples of epithelium of the oral mucosa of smokers (n=20), non-smokers (n=20) and former smokers (n=20) were collected by mouthwash and processed by immunohistochemistry. The number of stained cells was counted in five fields of slides prepared in duplicate. The number of stained cells was counted in five fields per slide by two observers (k = 1.00). Statistical analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey tests at a significance level of 5%. Results: smokers had higher percentage of stained cells (74.5%) compared to non-smokers (35.0%) (p=0.003). Former smokers showed 55.3% of stained cells for K19, but there were no significant differences compared to non-smokers (p=0.18) or smokers (p=0.22). Conclusion: smoking is associated with changes in protein expression of cytokeratin 19 (K19), being the greater number of stained cells observed in smokers, indicating changes in epithelial maturation of these individuals.