Current controversies in oral lichen planus: report of an international consensus meeting. Part 1. Viral infections and etiopathogenesis.

Despite recent advances in understanding the immunopathogenesis of oral lichen planus (LP), the initial triggers of lesion formation and the essential pathogenic pathways are unknown. It is therefore not surprising that the clinical management of oral LP poses considerable difficulties to the dermatologist and the oral physician. A consensus meeting was held in France in March 2003 to discuss the most controversial aspects of oral LP. Part 1 of the meeting report focuses on (1) the relationship between oral LP and viral infection with special emphasis on hepatitis C virus (HCV), and (2) oral LP pathogenesis, in particular the immune mechanisms resulting in lymphocyte infiltration and keratinocyte apoptosis. Part 2 focuses on patient management and therapeutic approaches and includes discussion on malignant transformation of oral LP.     

Folate and Vitamin B12 Levels in Thai Patients with Oral Lichenoid Related Drug

Background

Medications have been increasingly used by patients for the treatment of their systemic diseases. However, many drugs are reported to induce oral lichenoid lesions (OLL).

Aim

The aim of our study was to investigate the relationship between OLL, medications, and folate and vitamin B₁₂ levels.

Material and Methods

Twenty Thai patients who were diagnosed with OLL by clinical and histopathological examination were included in this study. These subjects were compared with 24 healthy control subjects. Complete blood counts, hemoglobin typing, serum and red cell folate, and serum vitamin B₁₂ levels were investigated. The medications taken and the systemic diseases of the Thai patients with OLL were recorded and analyzed.

Results

Our results showed that only 1/20 patients with OLL (5%) had low red cell folate and only 1 case showed a low level of serum folate. Vitamin B₁₂ levels were within normal range in both groups. There were no significant differences in red cell folate, serum folate, or vitamin B₁₂ levels between the patients with OLL and the control group (p>0.05). Four cases in OLL and 3 cases in the control group had low hematocrit less than 36% and they were defined as anemic.

Conclusion

Antihypertensives and hypolipidemics were the most common medications taken by patients with OLL; however, these drugs had no effect on red cell folate, serum folate, or vitamin B₁₂ levels. Since the patients were taking multiple drugs and we could not confirm the diagnosis of OLDR by withdrawal of the drugs, we used the term OLL related drug instead.Key words: folate, lichenoid, medication, oral, Thai, vitamin B₁₂     

Current controversies in oral lichen planus: report of an international consensus meeting. Part 2. Clinical management and malignant transformation

Despite recent advances in understanding the immunopathogenesis of oral lichen planus (LP), the initial triggers of lesion formation and the essential pathogenic pathways are unknown. It is therefore not surprising that the clinical management of oral LP poses considerable difficulties to the dermatologist and the oral physician. A consensus meeting was held in France in March 2003 to discuss the most controversial aspects of oral LP. Part 1 of the meeting report focused on (1) the relationship between oral LP and viral infection, with special emphasis on hepatitis C virus (HCV), and (2) oral LP pathogenesis, in particular the immune mechanisms resulting in lymphocyte infiltration and keratinocyte apoptosis. Part 2 focuses on patient management and therapeutic approaches and includes discussion on malignant transformation of oral LP.     

Interventions for treating oral lichen planus: a systematic review

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a common chronic inflammatory disease associated with cell-mediated immunological dysfunction. Symptomatic OLP is painful and complete healing is rare. The aim of this review was to assess the evidence for the efficacy and safety of treatments for symptomatic OLP. The Cochrane Oral Health Group Trials Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched in January 2011 to identify all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating any intervention for the treatment of symptomatic OLP. A total of 28 trials were included in this Cochrane review. There was no evidence from three RCTs that topical pimecrolimus is better than placebo in reducing pain from OLP. There was weak evidence from two RCTs that topical aloe vera may be associated with a reduction in pain compared with placebo. There was weak and unreliable evidence from two small trials, at high risk of bias, that topical ciclosporin may reduce pain and clinical signs of OLP. There was no evidence (from five trials each evaluating a different steroid and/or calcineurin inhibitor) that there is a difference between treatment with topical corticosteroids (TCSs) compared with topical calcineurin inhibitors with regard to reducing pain associated with OLP or that any specific steroid therapy is more or less effective at reducing pain. Although TCSs are considered to be the first-line treatment, we did not identify any RCTs that compared TCSs with placebo in patients with symptomatic OLP. From the 28 trials included in this systematic review, the wide range of interventions compared means there is insufficient evidence to support the superior effectiveness of any specific treatment.     

CD146 expression in oral lichen planus and oral cancer

Clinical Oral Investigations - To examine the CD146/METCAM expression on keratinocytes in normal oral mucosa (NOM), oral lichen planus (OLP), oral epithelial dysplasia (OED), and oral squamous cell...     

Urban legends series: lichen planus

Oral Diseases (2012) Lichen planus (LP) is a common disorder affecting the oral cavity (OLP) and skin. Despite intensive research, LP/OLP etiology and treatment remain controversial. We investigated four controversial topics: (i) Is hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection associated with LP and involved in its pathogenesis? (ii) Should all patients with LP be screened for HCV? (iii) Should patients with OLP have all their amalgam restorations removed? (iv) Are there any new treatments for OLP? Results from extensive literature searches suggested that: (i) Robust evidence from three meta‐analyses indicate that HCV is associated with LP and might be involved in OLP pathogenesis (ii) It would be prudent to screen patients with LP/OLP at significant risk with an ELISA for HCV antibodies using country‐specific screening strategies (iii) There is no evidence that either OLP or oral lichenoid lesions patients would routinely benefit from having all their amalgam restorations replaced. Weak evidence from potentially very biased, small, non‐randomized, unblinded studies suggests that a small fraction of patients may benefit from targeted amalgam replacement. (iv) There is weak evidence that, among new OLP treatments, topical pimecrolimus, aloe vera, and oral curcuminoids may be useful. The development of specific formulations for oral delivery of topical medications is a promising field.     

Expression of TNF-α in oral lichen planus treated with fluocinolone acetonide 0.1%

BACKGROUND: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a common chronic inflammatory disease involving T cells-mediated immunity. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha has been reported to be involved in the disease process. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of fluocinolone acetonide in orabase (FAO) 0.1% on the expression of TNF-alpha in patients with OLP. METHODS: Eighteen Thai patients with atrophic or erosive OLP were recruited. Biopsy specimens were taken before and 1 month after treatment with FAO 0.1% and sent for histopathologic examination where they were immunohistochemically stained with antibody to TNF-alpha. Twenty normal mucosa specimens were identically processed. Oral squamous cell carcinoma tissue was used as a positive control for TNF-alpha expression, whereas OLP sections without primary antibody were served as negative control. RESULTS: Sixteen of 18 cases (88.89%) of OLP exhibited positive staining for TNF-alpha. Most of the TNF-alpha was observed in the mononuclear cells. Ten cases (55.56%) of OLP demonstrated TNF-alpha expression in keratinocytes. The number of mononuclear cells positive for TNF-alpha before the treatment with FAO 0.1% in orabase was statistically higher than that after the treatment (P=0.000) and in the normal mucosa (P=0.000). Moreover, the number of mononuclear cells after treatment with FAO 0.1% in orabase was statistically lower than before the treatment (P=0.000). CONCLUSION: Our study exhibited that TNF-alpha may be associated with the immunopathogenesis of OLP in Thai patients and FAO 0.1% had an effect on the reduction of TNF-alpha expression.