Research Article
Oral Lesions Induced by Chronic Khat Use Consist Essentially of Thickened Hyperkeratinized Epithelium
Table 2
Analysis of histological changes in the buccal mucosa.
| | Nonchewers () | Khat chewers () | value | Nonsmokers () | Smokers () |
| Samples with fibrosis (%) | 13 | 29 | 35 | — | Samples with intracellular edema (%) | 13 | 14 | 75 | — | Samples with keratinization (%) | 26 | 71 | 95 | — | Percentage of superficial layer keratinized | 0.7 ± 0.3 | 36.8 ± 8.8 | 33.6 ± 6.2 | | Number of rete pegs/100 m | 6.1 ± 0.4 | 9.5 ± 0.8 | 7.8 ± 0.5 | | Abnormally shaped rete pegs (%) | 8.1 ± 2.8 | 9.8 ± 0.4 | 14.2 ± 2.4 | | Rete peg depth as % of whole thickness | 38.3 ± 3.0 | 34.8 ± 3.7 | 42.6 ± 2.7 | | Proportion of basal cell layer (%) | 8.9 ± 0.2 | 8.6 ± 0.5 | 11.4 ± 0.4 | | Proportion of spinous cell layer (%) | 61.3 ± 4.4 | 64.6 ± 4.6 | 60.4 ± 5.5 | | Proportion of superficial cell layer (%) | 27.9 ± 3.4 | 26.8 ± 6.3 | 28.2 ± 3.4 | |
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