Overexpression and Selectively Regulatory Roles of IL-23/IL-17 Axis in the Lesions of Oral Lichen Planus

Abstract

Interleukin- (IL-) 23/IL-17 axis is a newly discovered proinflammatory signaling pathway and has been implicated in the pathogenesis of many chronic inflammatory and immune disorders. Here we investigated whether the IL-23/IL-17 axis was present and functional in the lesions of oral lichen planus (OLP), a chronic inflammatory disease affecting the oral mucosa. Using immunohistochemistry and quantitative PCR, we found that the subunits of IL-23 and IL-17 were overexpressed in OLP lesions than in normal oral mucosa tissues. In addition, the expressions of IL-23 and IL-17 are positively correlated in reticular OLP tissues. Results from in vitro studies revealed that exogenous IL-23 could increase the percentage of Th17 cells and IL-17 production in the CD4+T cells from reticular OLP patients. Furthermore, we also found that exogenous IL-17 could significantly enhance the mRNA expressions of β-defensin-2, -3, CCL-20, IL-8, and TNF-α, but not β-defensin-1, CXCL-9, -10, -11, CCL-5, and IL-6 in human oral keratinocytes. Taken together, our results revealed an overexpression pattern and selectively regulatory roles of IL-23/IL-17 axis in the OLP lesions, suggesting that it may be a pivotal regulatory pathway in the complex immune network of OLP lesions.

Regulation of immune cells in oral lichen planus

“…cells were infrequent overall, but were more common in the NSI tissues than the OLP tissues, and were found deeper in the connective tissue. These findings contrast with the reports from others [13,18], who described more sub-epithelial IL17 ? cells in OLP in comparison with normal mucosal controls.…”

Overexpression and Potential Regulatory Role of IL-17F in Pathogenesis of Chronic Periodontitis

“…For example, some reports demonstrated that IL-17A played a protective role against bacterial infections by recruitment to mobilization of neutrophils [8]. While in our previous investigations, it demonstrated that expression level of IL-17A may be associated with disease severity in periodontitis [5,6] and may also had potential regulating role to human oral keratinocyte cell lines [9].…”

A case of erosive lichen planus with plantar involvement

“…Pain, the duration of the disease and spread of the lesions that first appeared on the heel may be the result of constant exposure to trauma due to lesion location in this case. While the etiology of the disease is not fully understood, studies show damage to keratinocytes following an immune reaction caused by CD8+ lymphocytes where production of multiple mediators (interleukin-12, interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α, RANTES, MMP-9 and transforming growth factor-β1) gets suppressed and T-cell mediated immunity gets irregular [3][4][5] .…”

“…Erosive lichen planus (ELP) is a rare form of LP usually involving the oral mucosa and genital area 2 . Although the etiology of the disease is not fully understood, autoimmune diseases are thought to be associated with LP [3][4][5] . Psychological and emotional disorders are also thought to have a role 4 .…”

“…Although the etiology of the disease is not fully understood, autoimmune diseases are thought to be associated with LP [3][4][5] . Psychological and emotional disorders are also thought to have a role 4 . Palmoplantar involvement, which is characterized by erosive lesions usually accompanied by intense pain, very rarely observed in ELP 2 .…”