Peripheral T-cell subsets in patients with reticular and atrophic-erosive oral lichen planus

OBJECTIVE: Oral lichen planus (OLP) presents with various clinical forms that can be classified into 2 major types: reticular OLP and atrophic-erosive OLP. Our objective was to investigate immunologic differences between these 2 types. STUDY DESIGN: We investigated possible immunologic differences between 26 patients with reticular OLP and 26 patients with atrophic-erosive OLP. RESULTS: No differences were detected in serum Ig levels or complement levels. However, the mean proportions of CD4+CD45RO+ and DR+ lymphocytes were significantly higher in patients with atrophic-erosive OLP than in patients with reticular OLP, whereas the mean proportion of CD8+CD45RA+ lymphocytes was significantly lower in patients with atrophic-erosive OLP. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the 2 clinical types of OLP might have different immunopathogenic mechanisms.