Optical Coherence Tomography of the Labial Salivary Glands Reveals Age‐Related Differences in Women. Issue 6 (4th November 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nowak, Jan Krzysztof; Grulkowski, Ireneusz; Karnowski, Karol; Wojtkowski, Maciej; Walkowiak, Jaroslaw
• Is Part Of: Clinical and translational science. Volume 8:Issue 6(2015)
• Page Start: 717
• Page End: 721
• Publication Date: 2015-11-04
• Subjects: optical biopsy -- minor salivary gland -- ageing -- lip -- obesity; Medicine, Experimental -- Periodicals; Medical innovations -- Periodicals; 616.027
• DOI: 10.1111/cts.12344
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1752-8054

Abstract

Abstract: The labial minor salivary glands (LSGs) play a role in medical research and practice due to their superficial location and involvement in both systemic and localized diseases. Swept‐source optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive modality that enables in vivo, micrometer resolution, wide‐field three‐dimensional imaging in seconds. A purpose‐built swept‐source OCT instrument was employed to acquire three‐dimensional datasets covering the area of 2.43 cm 2 of the mucosa of the lower lip to the depth of 3.4 mm in young ( n = 14; mean age ± SD: 27 ± 3 years; body mass index [BMI] 20.4 ± 2.3 kg/m 2 ) and middle‐aged women ( n = 11; 54 ± 6 years; 25.5 ± 3.2 kg/m 2 ). Glandular tissue reflectivity mode (range 0–255; 86 ± 17 vs. 68 ± 12, p = 0.005), average single LSG area in tissue sample (5.26 ± 2.62 mm 2 vs. 2.87 ± 1.26 mm 2, p = 0.011), and LSG surface filling factor (0.23 ± 0.13 vs. 0.11 ± 0.10, p = 0.027) had higher values in younger than in middle‐aged women. A correlation between BMI and glandular tissue reflectivity mode (Spearman's ρ = –0.60) was found ( p = 0.002). The results highlight the potential value of LSGs' OCT morphometry in research regarding ageing.