Aphthous ulcers, salivary peroxidase and stress: Are they related?

Background: In today's high strung lifestyle, stress plays a major role on our health. Studies using ultraweak chemiluminescence have been able to demonstrate this effect, of psychological stress on the immune system, using saliva as a psychological stress marker. The impact of psychosocial factors on the oral mucosal lesions of individuals found that stress can contribute to weakened immunity and increased susceptibility to infection.

Aim: To study the role of salivary peroxidase (SPOx) in psychologically stressed individuals with and without the presence of aphthous ulcer.

Materials And Methods: The study involved evaluating subjects for stress, using Perceived Stress Scale. Depending on the stress scores and the presence or absence of oral aphthae, they were assigned into 3 groups of 30 each. After a thorough oral examination, individual samples of saliva was collected and subjected to microprotein estimation using a biochemical analyzer.

Statistical Analysis Used: Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Student's t-test.

Results: Decreased levels of peroxidase were found in individuals' with aphthous ulcers, while the same was increased when no lesions were found and also on a lower stress scale.

Conclusions: Our study analysis does show a variation in enzyme levels between the different groups highlighting the influence of stress on the peroxidase levels, which in turn when imbalanced, results in tissue damage, leading to aphthous formation.