The correlation between the classification of atrophic glossitis and changes of vitamin B12, folic acid and blood cell parameters

To investigate the classification of atrophic glossitis and to study the correlation between the classification and changes of VitB12, folic acid (FOL) and blood cell parameters.

A total of 70 patients with atrophic glossitis (AG) were divided into complex type and simple type according to whether they had ulcer or erosion on the tongue mucosa or not. Another 65 healthy subjects during the same period were collected as the control group. The levels of vitamin B12, FOL and blood cell parameters were statistically analyzed using SPSS 25.0 software package.

The levels of vitamin B12, red blood cell count (RBC) (3.52 ± 0.69) × 10¹²·L^-1, hemoglobin (HGB)(11.97 ± 1.70) g·dL^-1, white blood cell count (WBC) (4.85 ± 1.16) × 10⁹·L^-1, neutrophil count (NEUT) (2.76 ± 0.99) × 10⁹·L^-1, lymphocyte count (LYMPH) (1.48 ± 0.44) × 10⁹·L^-1 in complex type AG group were lower than those in simple type AG group (P < 0.05). The levels of mean red blood cell volume (MCV) (104.90 ± 11.13) fL, mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) (34.83 ± 4.56) pg, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) (331.09 ± 13.60) g·L^-1 were higher than those in the simple type AG group (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in FOL content between these two groups (P > 0.05). The levels of VitB12, MCV, MCH, MCHC, WBC, lymph and neut were correlated with the classification of atrophic glossitis (P < 0.05).

VitB12 deficiency was more apparent in complex AG, especially in large cell anemia, which correlated with the levels of WBC, NEUT, and LYMPH.