Amyloidosis with oral involvement.

Amyloidosis is a disease complex in which amyloid fibrils, formed from various serum proteins, may be deposited in a local or systemic distribution. When this deposition affects vital organs the disease usually is fatal because there is no effective treatment. This paper reports a case of amyloidosis with oral involvement and discusses recent advances concerning the properties of amyloid fibrils and the various pathogenic mechanisms responsible for their formation.