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| LETTER TO THE EDITOR |
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| Year : 2015 | Volume
: 7
| Issue : 1 | Page : 66 |
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Pentoxifylline in patients with oral submucous fibrosis
Ashwini Deshpande1, Darpan Bhargava2
1 Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, People's College of Dental Sciences and Research Center, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India
2 Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, People's College of Dental Sciences and Research Center, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India
| Date of Web Publication | 20-May-2015 |
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Darpan Bhargava
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, People's College of Dental Sciences and Research Center, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0975-8844.157405
How to cite this article:
Deshpande A, Bhargava D. Pentoxifylline in patients with oral submucous fibrosis. J Orofac Sci 2015;7:66 |
Sir,
In the presented study by Patil and Maheshwari [1] on the efficacy of pentoxifylline in the management of oral submucous fibrosis, it is clearly concluded that the patients in their study were benefited by administration of 400 mg pentoxifylline twice daily for a period three months. The control group in their study was administered multi-vitamins, the composition of which not mentioned in their study, which by itself could possibly have some benefits in oral submucous fibrosis patients. [2] If the methodology of their study could have included the same multi-vitamins being administered in both the study groups with one of the groups additionally receiving pentoxifylline, this could have possibly provided better results. In a pilot study by Rajendran R et al. to determine the effect of pentoxifylline on the clinical and pathologic course of oral submucous fibrosis, it has been concluded that there is some benefit in such patients. Rajendran R et al. have emphasized that using pentoxifylline was effective when used as an adjunct to the routine management of oral submucous fibrosis. [3] Prabhu N et al. investigated through their randomized clinical trial, the effects of pentoxifylline on micro-vascular density, area percentage of blood vessels, severity of fibrosis, and inflammatory components in patients with oral submucous fibrosis. It was demonstrated that comparison of micro-vascular density did not show any significant difference in pre- and post-treatment samples. The average area percentage occupied by blood vessels showed that there was a significant difference in pre- and post-treatment biopsies in patients receiving pentoxifylline in addition to the other conventional therapies. Clinically, mouth opening and tongue protrusion showed no significant improvement in either of their study groups individually or on intergroup comparison. In symptomatic patients with burning sensation of mucosa, both pre-treatment and post-treatment study groups showed significant improvement. [4] It should be remembered that although this premalignant condition could have a multi-factorial etiology, the end result is juxta-epithelial hyalinization with sub-epithelial layer inflammatory infiltrate in the basement membrane. The most probable reason for vascular changes may be secondary to this juxta-epithelial hyalinization. Patil and Maheshwari have also mentioned in their research paper that pentoxifylline has anti-inflammatory and immune modulatory properties, which needs suitable validations.
| References | |  |
| 1. | Patil S, Maheshwari S. Efficacy of pentoxifylline in the management of oral submucous fibrosis. J Orofac Sci 2014;6:94-8.   |
| 2. | Chole RH, Gondivkar SM, Gadbail AR, Balsaraf S, Chaudhary S, Dhore SV, et al. Review of drug treatment of oral submucous fibrosis. Oral Oncol 2012;48:393-8. |
| 3. | Rajendran R, Rani V, Shaikh S. Pentoxifylline therapy: A new adjunct in the treatment of oral submucous fibrosis. Indian J Dent Res 2006;17:190-8. [ PUBMED] |
| 4. | Prabhu N, Rao SS, Kotrashetti SM, Baliga SD, Hallikerimath SR, Angadi PV, et al. Pentoxifylline in patients with oral submucous fibrosis-a randomized clinical trial. J Maxillofac Oral Surg 2015;14:81-9. |
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