Effect of hormonal contraception on the maturation and expression of cytokeratin 5 in oral epithelial cells: an observational study

Aim:
Hormonal contraception, either pill or injection, has been known to prevent pregnancy. Hormonal changes are known to affect the keratinization of oral epithelial cells. Cytokeratin 5 (CK5) is expressed in all keratinized and nonkeratinized basal cells. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of hormonal contraception on the maturation and expression of CK5 in the epithelial cell of the buccal mucosa.
Materials and Methods:
This cross-sectional observational analytical study involved 30 healthy female subjects that were divided into three groups: pill, contraceptive injection, and no hormonal contraception as a control; each group included 10 women. The inclusion criteria consisted of healthy women who were using contraception for more than 3 months, not currently undergoing orthodontic treatment, and not using a prosthesis or crown. Buccal epithelial cells were swabbed using cytobrush. Sample epithelial cells were stained using Papanicolaou to analyze maturation and immunocytochemistry to observe expression of CK5.
Results:
The analysis of variance result showed a significant difference in the expression of CK5 in the buccal epithelial cells of the injection, pill, and control groups (P < 0.05). The highest expression of CK5 was obtained in the contraceptive injection group, followed by the pill and control groups. The Pearson result between basal cell and expression of CK5 was 0.945.
Conclusion:
It was concluded that hormonal contraception may increase the expression of CK5 in the epithelial oral cell, and that there is a strong correlation between epithelial maturation and CK5 expression.