الفهرس 
Oral Lichen PlanusOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 129 |  |  |
| | | from | 129 | | |
Abstract
Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a T-cell-mediated chronic inflammatory oral mucosal disease of unknown etiology. It affects predominantly the buccal mucosa, tongue and gingiva.
The etiology and pathogenesis of OLP is not completely understood. Several factors have been implicated in the etiology and several hypotheses have been proposed for its pathogenesis. Among the many factors which appear to be implicated are the patient’s genetic background, dental materials, drugs, infectious agents as bacterial and viral infections, association of other autoimmune diseases, immunodeficiency, stress, habits, trauma, diabetes, hypertension and malignant neoplasm.
Many controversies exist concerning the pathogenesis of oral lichen planus. A large body of evidence supports the role of immune dysregulation in the pathogenesis, especially a Th1 immune dysregulation.
The role of a line of Th1 cell associated-cytokines and chemokines has been investigated in past decades. Among these cytokines, IFN-γ has been studied more extensively because it is regarded as the characteristic cytokine of T helper 1 (Th1) cells.
Previous studies identified IFN-γ expression by T cells adjacent to basal keratinocytes in oral LP and IFN-γ production and secretion by oral LP lesional T cells in vitro.
The aim of this work is to assess the level of IFN-γ in peripheral blood and whole unstimulated saliva (WUS) using ELISA technique to determine whether the salivary detection will mirror the changes of this cytokine in peripheral blood of OLP patients which may play an important role in pathogenesis of the disease and may have a diagnostic value.
In the present study cases showed significantly higher mean IFN-γ in saliva when compared to control subjects therefore, IFN-γ in saliva is reliable to predict OLP cases. Being easily accessible, non-invasive and safe, it might provide a preliminary diagnostic tool before resorting to the invasive oral biopsy procedure.
Serum IFN-γ does not mirror the change of its level in saliva in OLP cases as no change in its level between cases and controls was found. Therefore, IFN-γ in blood is unreliable to predict OLP cases.