Abnormal genes and proteins in oral inflammatory diseses v1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Abnormal genes and proteins in oral inflammatory diseases.
IRAS ID
96630
Contact name
Andrew Mark Smith
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2016/06/57, UCL Data Protection Registration for my study, reference No
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 11 months, 28 days
Research summary
Oral cavity can be affected by several painful and debilitating inflammatory conditions. Some of these are manifestations of conditions that affect the rest of the body too. The main focus of this study is a condition known as orofacial granulomatosis (OFG), which is characterised by disfiguring and painful swelling of the lips and oral tissues. Often it affects young people and significantly affects their quality of life. Interestingly, the clinical and microscopic presentations of OFG are nearly identical to those seen in patients suffering from Crohn’s Disease (CD), a serious inflammatory bowel disease. Some OFG patients also develop CD at a later stage in their life.
The causes of many oral inflammatory diseases including OFG are still not known, but the way the body’s immune system behaves is thought to play a central role. In CD, abnormal genes which encode proteins involved in immune cell function have been identified as having a causative role in the disease.
The study aims to collect samples of blood, oral tissue, saliva, dental plaque, and oral swabs from patients with oral inflammatory conditions including sufferers of OFG, Lichen planus, Behçet’s disease, vesiculobullous disorders, gum disease, recurrent ulcers, foreign body reactions, sarcoidosis, oral candidosis, traumatic, pre-cancerous/cancerous conditions, oral ulceration, Sjögrens disease, and healthy controls. The samples will allow identification of abnormal genes, proteins and immune responses in patients with oral disease compared to healthy controls. These results will also be compared to data collected in ongoing projects into inflammatory bowel disorders such as CD to look for similarities and differences. Knowledge of the causes of these diseases would greatly help with the development of new diagnostic methods and treatments. We also plan to do a patch test for OFG patients to check for allergies as large proportion of OFG patients benefit from special exclusion diets.REC name
East of England - Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/EE/0328
Date of REC Opinion
10 Oct 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion