Androgen receptor status of the oral sebaceous glands.

In recent years, the receptor status of the estrogens and progestins and their relationship to the oral mucosa and its disease processes have been described. However, investigations regarding the androgens have largely been neglected. The androgens have diverse physiologic effects throughput the body and mediate their actions through androgen receptors (ARS) in various target organs. One of these, the sebaceous gland of the skin (dermal sebaceous gland, DSG) has been evaluated extensively in regard to ARS status. However, to our knowledge, the ARS status of the oral sebaceous glands (OSG) has not yet been elucidated. We attempt to evaluate the ARS status of 10 cases of OSG, in addition to other tissue components of the oral mucosa, using immunohistochemical techniques with a monoclonal antibody (MoAb) ARS. Sebaceous glands in all cases examined exhibited a moderate to more intense degree in immunoreactivity for ARS. Other tissue components, however, including the overlying epithelium and vascular endothelium, were essentially nonreactive. Our results indicate that, like the DSG, the OSG may be a target for the androgenetic hormones.