Evaluation of the Connective Tissue Wall in Sporadic Cases of Keratocystic Odontogenic Tumor (KCOT) Using MMP-9 and Confocal Microscopy: A Retrospective Study

Background: Keratocystic odontogenic tumor (KCOT) is an odontogenic lesion which manifests distinct biological behavior. Predominant studies in KCOT attribute this behavior to high epithelial proliferative capacity. Besides, a few studies facet loosely arranged collagen can contribute to the behavior of KCOT. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) are enzymes that degrade extracellular matrix components under both physiologic and pathologic conditions. The loosely arranged collagen in connective tissue wall of KCOT could be related to the degree of MMP-9 expression. Aim: To evaluate the arrangement of collagen fibers along with immunoexpression of MMP-9 and to relate to its neoplastic biologic behavior in sporadic cases of KCOT. Materials and Methods: KCOT (n = 23) and dentigerous cyst (DC) (n = 15) samples were processed for the following techniques: Masson’s trichrome stain for light microscopy, PMA-PSR stain for confocal microscopy, and MMP-9 for immunohistochemistry. Results: In Masson’s trichrome analysis, correlation of collagen fiber arrangement in the deeper regions with color intensity for KCOT was found to be statistically significant (P = .033). In confocal microscopy, there was no difference between intensities in KCOT (P = .990) and DC (P = .233), respectively. The immunoexpression of MMP-9 in the connective tissue wall of DC (73.3%) was relatively higher than that of KCOT (60.8%). However, on comparison between KCOT and DC in the presence of inflammation, the immunoexpression of MMP-9 was higher in DC (100%) than KCOT (69.9%) and was statistically significant (P = .028). Conclusion: It was concluded that the loose connective tissue wall in KCOT is because of the inherent nature of the lesion that could facilitate its biologic behavior. If inflammation is present, this could further aggravate the tumorigenic behavior.