Masami Shibata,¹ Isamu Kodani,¹ Kazuhiko Tanio,¹ Tetsuya Yamamoto,² Eisaku Ueta,²
Tokio Osaki,² Kazuo Ryoke^1
1Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Biopathological Surgery, Department of Medicine of Sensory and Motor Organs, School of Medicine, Tottori University, Yonago, and ²Department of Oral Oncology, Kochi Medical School, Nankoku Japan

Abstract
Objective: To elucidate the immunohistochemical characteristics of oral verruciform xanthomas and the aetiology of foam cells.
Patients and Methods: Oral verruciform xanthomas surgically extirpated from 5 patients were examined using immunohistochemistry.
Results: The verruciform xanthomas revealed an accumulation of foam cells with clear cytoplasm in the connective tissue around the elongated epithelial rete pegs. The foam cells were intensely positive for CD-68, lysozyme, and vimentin, and were weakly positive for α-1-antitrypsin, but were negative for total keratin and S-100 protein. A small number of dendritic cells were found among the foam cells and were positive for S-100 protein.
Conclusion: The findings suggest that the foam cells in oral verruciform xanthomas are of monocyte-macrophage lineage and are associated with a local inflammatory immune mechanism similar to verruciform xanthomas of other organs.

Key words: α 1-Antitrypsin, Dendritic cells, Foam cells, Xanthoma

Asian J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2005;17:95-99.