Glossitis can cause glossitis, which tends to be painful, smooth and shiny. Bacterial, viral or fungal infections can cause glossitis. "Candida" species are involved in median rhomboid glossitis. Syphilis is now relatively rare, but the tertiary stage can cause diffuse glossitis and atrophy of lingual papillae, termed "syphilitic glossitis", "luetic glossitis" or "atrophic glossitis of tertiary syphilis". It is caused by Treponema pallidum and is a sexually transmitted infection. Many conditions can cause glossitis via malnutrition or malabsorption, which creates the nutritional deficiencies described above, although other mechanisms may be involved in some of those conditions listed. A painful tongue may
Inflammation Inflammation Inflammation (from ) is part of the complex biological response of body tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants, and is a protective response involving immune cells, blood vessels, and molecular mediators. The function of inflammation is to eliminate the initial cause of cell injury, clear out necrotic cells and tissues damaged from the original insult and the inflammatory process, and initiate tissue repair. The five classical signs of inflammation are heat, pain, redness, swelling, and loss of function (Latin "calor", "dolor", "rubor", "tumor", and "functio laesa"). Inflammation is a generic response, and therefore it