Systemic and environmental risk factors for recurrent aphthous stomatitis in a Polish cohort of patients

INTRODUCTION: Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is a common oral mucosal disease without a clearly defined etiology. AIM: To analyze the influence of systemic diseases, medications, smoking and a family history of RAS on the prevalence and the course of the condition in Polish patients with RAS. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Seventy-eight patients with RAS and 72 subjects without a history of RAS were enrolled in the study. All participants underwent a detailed oral examination and a full blood count. The results were statistically analyzed with Statistica 10 (StatSoft, Krakow, Poland) with Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, χ(2) and Fisher tests, with p < 0.05 considered as the significance level. RESULTS: The most common systemic conditions observed in patients with RAS were hypertension, allergies and anemia. Both HT and anemia were prevalent in the RAS group. A positive RAS family history occurred more frequently in the study group than in controls. However, no association was found between smoking and RAS prevalence, although a higher percentage of smokers was observed in the RAS subgroup with a low frequency of RAS episodes. CONCLUSIONS: The potential role of hypertension and anemia as modifiers of the immune reaction in RAS has been implied in this study but confirmation of this association requires further studies on a larger sample of patients. However, there appears to be no correlation between smoking and the occurrence of RAS. The positive family history observed in this study in the majority of RAS patients confirms the genetic background of the condition.