Contact hypersensitivity after tongue piercing

Background: Recently tongue piercing has become increasingly popular in the society. Several case reports have presented various complications of tongue piercing. However, there is no scientific evidence about contact hypersensitivity to tongue piercing. Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the contact hypersensitivity after using tongue piercing. Methods: Nineteen male Rattus norvegicus were divided into three groups: group A treated with vaseline on the back and dorsum tongue (control group), group B (I) treated with HgCl2 10% cream on the tongue dorsum, group B (II) treated with tongue piercing for 10 days and group C with HgCl 2 10% cream on the back, ear lobe, and tongue, then re-exposure with same materials on ear, back and tongue for 24 and 48 hours. Before and after 24 and 48 hours applications, ear width was measured with sliding caliper. At the end of treatments, the rats were sacrificed. All tissue specimens were made for Hematoylin Eosine (H&E) staining examination. The number of mononuclear cells was counted under light microscope Data was analyzed with One-Way ANOVA followed by LSD (p<0.05). Results: The result of this study showed that there were a significant difference of the thickness of ear lobe and the number of mononuclear cells (lymphocyte and monocyte) among all groups. Conclusion: It is concluded that tongue piercing induce contact hypersensitivity.

Latar belakang: Saat ini pemakaian tongue piercing sangat popular di masyarakat. Beberapa laporan kasus menunjukkan bahwa tongue piercing menimbulkan beberapa komplikasi. Namun, belum ada bukti ilmiah mengenai reaksi hipesensitivitas tongue piercing. Tujuan: Untuk mengetahui reaksi hipersensitivitas setelah menggunakan tongue piercing. Metode: Sembilan belas tikus jantan Rattus novergicus yang dibagi dalam tiga kemlompok yaitu: grup A diberi perlakuan dengan vaselin pada punggung dan dorsum lidah, grup B (I) diberi perlakuan dengan krim HgCl2 10% pada dorsum lidah dan B (II) perlakuan tongue piercing selama 10 hari. Grup C diberi perlakuan dengan HgCl2 pada punggung, daun telinga, dan dorsum lidah, kemudian diberi perlakuan ulang dengan bahan dan tempat yang sama selama 24 dan 48 jam. Sebelum dan setelah perlakuan selama 24 dan 48 jam ketebalan telinga diukur dengan sliding caliper. Setalah perlakuan tikus didekapitasi kemudian dibuat preparat jaringan untuk pemriksaan hematoxilin & eosin (H & E). Perhitungan jumlah sel mononuclear dilakukan menggunakan mikroskop cahaya. Hasil: Penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa terdapat perbedaan ketebalan telinga dan jumlah sel mononuklear yang bermakna setelah perlakuan antar kelompok pada hasil analisa dengan menggunakan ANOVA dan LSD (p<0.05). Kesimpulan: Tongue piercing dapat menginduksi reaksi hipersensitivitas kontak.