High frequencies of vitamin B₁₂ and folic acid deficiencies and gastric parietal cell antibody positivity in oral submucous fibrosis patients

Background/Purpose: Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is a chronic progressive scaring oral disease associated with areca quid chewing. This study evaluated whether OSF patients had anemia, hematinic deficiencies, and serum gastric parietal cell antibody (GPCA) positivity. Methods: The blood hemoglobin (Hb), iron, vitamin B₁₂, and folic acid concentrations, mean corpuscular volume, and serum GPCA in 68 male OSF patients were measured and compared with the corresponding data in 136 age-matched male healthy control individuals. Results: We found that five (7.4%), 14 (20.6%), 34 (50.0%), 28 (41.2%), and nine (13.2%) of the 68 male OSF patients had Hb (< 13 g/dL), iron (≤ 70 μg/dL), vitamin B₁₂ (≤ 450 pg/mL), and folic acid (≤ 6 ng/mL) deficiencies, and serum GPCA positivity, respectively. Furthermore, OSF patients had a significantly higher frequency of Hb (p = 0.006), vitamin B₁₂ (p < 0.001), or folic acid (p < 0.001) deficiency and of serum GPCA positivity (p = 0.011) than healthy control participants. Of the five OSF patients with anemia, two had thalassemia trait, one had iron deficiency anemia, and two had macrocytic anemia (mean corpuscular volume ≥ 100 fL). In addition, of the nine OSF patients with serum GPCA positivity, six had vitamin B₁₂ deficiency, five had folic acid deficiency, and two had iron deficiency. However, none of the nine GPCA-positive OSF patients had pernicious anemia based on the strict World Health Organization definition. Conclusion: We conclude that there are high frequencies of vitamin B₁₂ and folic acid deficiencies and of serum GPCA positivity in our male OSF patients.