Comparative Study between Intralesional Steroid Injection and Oral Lycopene in the Treatment of Oral Submucous Fibrosis

  • Habie Thomas Samuel Ex Resident, Department of Otorhinolaryngology
  • G S Renukananda Professor, Department of Otorhinolaryngology
Keywords: Lycopene, Mouth opening, Oral submucous fi brosis, Steroid, Triamcinolone

Abstract

Introduction: Oral submucous fi brosis (OSMF) is a premalignant condition with rising incidence due to increase in addictive
habits like arecanut and tobacco chewing. Various treatment modalities have been tried including steroid injections though new
interest in use of natural plant pigments like lycopene has occurred.
Aim: The aim was to compare the effi cacy of intralesional steroid injection with oral lycopene in the treatment of OSMF.
Methodology: A randomized prospective study of 75 patients of OSMF who were divided into three groups of 25 each. Group A
patients received weekly intralesional triamcinolone (40 mg/ml) injections, Group B received oral lycopene 6 mg daily, and
Group C received both weekly steroid injection and oral lycopene for 2 months respectively. Mouth opening as inter-incisor
distance (mm) and burning sensation in the mouth using visual analog scale were recorded weekly.
Results: Mouth opening values for the patients showed a mean increase of 6.56 mm, 3.04 mm and 7.56 mm in Groups A, B
and C, respectively. Lycopene showed an early reduction in the burning sensation with a mean score of 4.8 in group B by the
1st week itself which was highly signifi cant (P < 0.001).
Conclusion: Lycopene can be used as a fi rst-line drug in the management of OSMF or even as an adjuvant with steroids
giving excellent results.

Author Biographies

Habie Thomas Samuel, Ex Resident, Department of Otorhinolaryngology

Jagadguru Jayadeva Murugarajendra Medical College, Davangere, Karnataka, India

G S Renukananda, Professor, Department of Otorhinolaryngology

Jagadguru Jayadeva Murugarajendra Medical College, Davangere, Karnataka, India

References

1. Borle RM, Borle SR. Management of oral submucous fi brosis: A
conservative approach. J Oral Maxillofac Surg 1991;49:788-91.
2. Wynn TA. Cellular and molecular mechanisms of fi brosis. J Pathol
2008;214:199-210.
3. Singh M, Krishanappa R, Bagewadi A, Keluskar V. Effi cacy of oral
lycopene in the treatment of oral leukoplakia. Oral Oncol 2004;40:591-6.
4. Maserejian NN, Giovannucci E, Rosner B, Joshipura K. Prospective study
of vitamins C, E, and A and carotenoids and risk of oral premalignant
lesions in men. Int J Cancer 2007;120:970-7.
5. Erdman JW Jr, Ford NA, Lindshield BL. Are the health attributes of
lycopene related to its antioxidant function? Arch Biochem Biophys
2009;483:229-35.
6. Gerster H. The potential role of lycopene for human health. J Am Coll Nutr
1997;16:109-26.
7. Singh M, Niranjan HS, Mehrotra R, Sharma D, Gupta SC. Effi cacy
of hydrocortisone acetate/hyaluronidase vs triamcinolone acetonide/
hyaluronidase in the treatment of oral submucous fi brosis. Indian J Med
Res 2010;131:665-9.
8. Aziz SR. Oral submucous fi brosis: An unusual disease. J N J Dent Assoc
1997;68:17-9.
9. Kitade Y, Watanabe S, Masaki T, Nishioka M, Nishino H. Inhibition of
liver fi brosis in LEC rats by a carotenoid, lycopene, or a herbal medicine,
Sho-saiko-to. Hepatol Res 2002;22:196-205.
10. Ameer NT, Shukla RK. A cross sectional study of oral submucous fi brosis
in central India and the effect of local triamcinolone therapy. Indian J
Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2012;64:240-3.
11. Kumar A, Bagewadi A, Keluskar V, Singh M. Effi cacy of lycopene in the
management of oral submucous fi brosis. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol
Oral Radiol Endod 2007;103:207-13.
12. Gowda BB, Yathish TR, Sankappa SP, Kumar Naik H, Somayaji P, Anand D.
Response of oral submucous fi brosis to lycopene- A carotenoidantioxidant:
A clinicopathological study. J Clin Diagn Res 2011;5:882-8.
Published
2021-10-09