Stomatitis Stomatitis Stomatitis is inflammation of the mouth and lips. It refers to any inflammatory process affecting the mucous membranes of the mouth and lips, with or without oral ulceration. In its widest meaning, stomatitis can have a multitude of different causes and appearances. Common causes include infections, nutritional deficiencies, allergic reactions, radiotherapy, and many others. When inflammation of the gums and the mouth generally presents itself, sometimes the term "gingivostomatitis" is used, though this is also sometimes used as a synonym for herpetic gingivostomatitis. The term is derived from the Greek "stoma" (), meaning "mouth", and the suffix "-itis" (),
Aphthous stomatitis T cells. Persons with aphthous stomatitis also have circulating lymphocytes which react with peptides 91–105 of heat shock protein 65–60, and the ratio of CD4+ T cells to CD8+ T cells in the peripheral blood of individuals with aphthous stomatitis is decreased. Aphthous stomatitis has been associated with other autoimmune diseases, namely systemic lupus erythematosus and inflammatory bowel diseases. However, common autoantibodies are not detected in most patients, and the condition tends to resolve spontaneously with advancing age rather than worsen. Evidence for the T cell-mediated mechanism of mucosal destruction is strong, but the exact triggers for this process are