MORPHOFUNCTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GLANDULAR EPITHELIUM OF THE ORAL MUCOSA DURING CYTOSTATIC THERAPY

Abstract

Introduction. Cytostatic drugs used in oncological practice have a systemic effect on the body, including on the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract, the side effects of which are stomatitis and mucositis, which complicate treatment. Objective — experimental study of the damaging effect of cytostatic drugs on the glandular epithelium of the oral mucosa and assessment of the reversibility of these changes. Materials and methods. The epithelium of the minor salivary glands of the tongue was studied on 20 mature white outbred mice after intraperitoneal administration of the cytostatic drug cyclophosphamide at a dose of 400 mg/kg body weight for 5 days. Animals in the control group (20 mice) were injected with isotonic sodium chloride solution at the same frequency. The material was obtained 24 hours and 20 days after the last injection of the drug. Histological and histochemical methods were used. Histochemical studies revealed the activity of the enzyme succinate dehydrogenase in the epithelial cells of the secretory portions of the minor salivary glands, the content of total proteins in serocytes, and the content of glycoproteins and glucosaminoglycans in mucocytes. Results. Exposure to cyclophosphamide led to a decrease in the activity of cyclophosphamide in serocytes and mucocytes, a decrease in the concentration of proteins in serocytes, and inhibition of the synthesis of glycoproteins and glucosaminoglycans in mucocytes. The changes were reversible. Conclusions. Cytostatic therapy causes damage to the glandular epithelium of the oral mucosa, which is expressed in the suppression of metabolic and synthetic processes. Serocytes are more sensitive to cytotoxic action than mucocytes. There was a high degree of regeneration of the glandular epithelium of the oral mucosa after the withdrawal of the cytostatic drug.