Radiation-induced increased platelet-activating factor activity in mixed saliva.
BACKGROUND: Platelet-activating factor (PAF), a family of structurally-related phospholipid mediators of inflammation, is present in normal human mixed saliva; however, its role in oral biology and the homeostasis of oral host defense mechanisms remains to be established. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: The current study was designed to evaluate the salivary levels of PAF in patients with oral mucositis that developed as a complication of head and neck irradiation for oral cancer. PAF activity was assessed in platelet bioassay and expressed relative to the activity of authentic PAF, 1-O-hexadecyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (C16:0-AGEPC). RESULTS: A significant increase in salivary PAF levels was observed in patients with mucositis (47,032 +/- 12,731 C16:0-AGEPC fmole equivalents/ml of saliva, mean +/- SE, N = 7) as compared with normal subjects (5,568 +/- 1,135 C16:0-AGEPC fmole equivalents/ml of saliva, N = 27). Phospholipid fractionation of the PAF isolated from the saliva of patients with mucositis by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography revealed a single peak of activity that corresponded with the elution profile of C16:0-AGEPC, the most biologically active molecular species of PAF. In contrast, the PAF isolated from normal human mixed saliva contained multiple molecular species of PAF. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that this potent phospholipid inflammatory mediator may play a role in the inflammation and tissue injury associated with mucositis resulting from radiation treatment for oral cancer.[1]References
- Radiation-induced increased platelet-activating factor activity in mixed saliva. McManus, L.M., Ostrom, K.K., Lear, C., Luce, E.B., Gander, D.L., Pinckard, R.N., Redding, S.W. Lab. Invest. (1993) [Pubmed]
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