Serum vitamin D level in healthy individuals versus patients with symptomatic and asymptomatic oral lichen planus

Abstract

The aetiology of oral lichen planus (OLP) is multifactorial, having variable triggers. A role for vitamin D related to the immune system has been established. Vitamin D modulating effect is on the adaptive and innate immune responses. Our study aimed to compare serum levels of vitamin D in patients having different clinical symptoms of OLP (symptomatic or asymptomatic) with healthy individuals. Also, in this study, for further evaluation, the expression level of interleukin-17A and interleukin-6 (IL-17A and IL-6) was evaluated because the presence of active vitamin D reduces the expression of these proinflammatory factors. This study was included three groups with 30 volunteers in each. The first group included asymptomatic oral lichen planus patients (reticular or plaque-like lesions). The second group consisted of symptomatic oral lichen planus patients (atrophic or bullous-erosive lesions). In contrast, the third group consisted of healthy control subjects. The serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D was measured between the three groups and then correlated with clinical manifestation of oral lichen planus, either symptomatic or non-symptomatic. The Real-Time PCR technique was used to evaluate the expression of IL-17A and IL-6. Patients with symptomatic OLP (second group) had statistically significantly lower Vitamin D levels than asymptomatic OLP patients (first group). Healthy Controls (third group) exhibited statistically significantly higher vitamin D levels than OLP groups. The results of IL-17A and IL-6 genes expression showed that the presence of vitamin D had a statistically significant effect on reducing the expression of these two pro-inflammatory cytokines among symptomatic and asymptomatic OLP patients. Also, the results showed that there was a statistically significant difference between OLP patients (group I and II) and the control group (group III). In general, the current study results showed that lack of vitamin D had an important role in initiating or increasing the OLP's severity.

The role of vitamin D in amelioration of oral lichen planus and its effect on salivary and tissue IFN-γ level: a randomized clinical trial

“…At baseline, there was no statistically significant difference between the two study groups in mean values (± SD) of any of the studied parameters, including pain (VAS) scores, clinical scores, or salivary and tissue IFN-levels ( P = 0.902, 0.249, 0.843, and 0.766, respectively). Also, there was no significant difference in severity of pain or clinical picture between the two groups ( P = 0.41 and 0.823, respectively), as shown in Table 1 and [ 2 ].…”

“…Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory and immunologic disease involving mainly the oral mucosal tissues [ 1 ]. Generally, the prevalence of OLP in the public population ranges from 0.5 to 2.2%, affecting primarily females over 40 years of age [ 2 ]. Clinically, OLP presents in six different types: reticular, papular, or erythematous OLP, which are usually asymptomatic, while others, like erythematous (erythematous), ulcerative, or bullous OLP, are present with pain and/or a burning sensation [ 3 , 4 ].…”

Anxiety and depression in keratotic oral lichen planus: a multicentric study from the SIPMO

“…Interestingly, recent researches have suggested the potential role of vitamin D in reducing the expression of some pro-inflammatory cytokines [ 40 ]. Specifically, vitamin D deficiency has been correlated to higher serum levels of IL-17 and IL-6 in OLP patients, especially in the symptomatic subset [ 41 ]. In addition, the local inflammatory response in the oral mucosa towards an unknown antigen may be responsible for the peripheral neuropathy, independently of the clinical form of OLP, causing in time pain and additional symptoms [ 42 ].…”