IADR Abstract Archives

Peripheral T-cell subsets in patients with Oral Lichen Planus

Objective: Oral lichen planus(OLP) is a lymphocyte- mediated immunological disorder. The initial event in OLP lesion formation is unknown. Histochemical and histopathologic studies reveal that in OLP most lymphocytes in the lamina propria are CD4+ T cells, while the majority of lymphocytes within the epithelium and adjacent to damaged basal keratinocytes are CD8+ cytotoxic cells.Given the heterogeneity of  OLP clinical manifestations and the large number of lymphocytes present at the site of injury, our objective was to analyze the circulating lymphocyte population [CD3, CD4,CD8,CD57,CD56,CD16 and Regulatory T cells (Treg)]in patients with reticular and atrophic-erosive OLP, and to compare it with a group of healthy patients.

Method: Changes of T lymphocyte phenotype in peripheral blood from  21 patients with OLP ( mean age of 61.8± 11.2 ) and 7 healthy subjects (age range 61.14± 4.41) without sign of mucosal lesions were assessed using flow cytometry. Patients with OLP were classified into 2 groups:group A( n=11)white reticular and white plaque forms not erosive; group B (n= 10) atrophic and /or erosive lesions. The Shapiro–Wilk test was used to test the data distribution. ANOVA for indipendent samples with post hoc Tukey test (P<.05) was performed to evaluate the signifiance of the comparisons between the three groups.

Result: No statistically significant differences were observed between the OLP group and control group regarding cytotoxic/suppressor T-cells (CD3+ and CD8+), T helper cells (CD4+) and CD56+. The NK-cell level (CD16+) and CD57+ ratio was significantly increased in the group B compared with healthy patients. The percentage of Regulatory T-cells was found to be significantly decreased in patients of group A and B.

Conclusion: The observations reported in this small pilot study suggest that immunological system disfunction in OLP lesions might involve also the lymphocyte subsets in peripheral  blood.

Continental European Division Meeting
2013 Continental European Division Meeting (Florence, Italy)
Florence, Italy
2013
376
Scientific Groups
  • Lorenzini, Guido  ( Universita di Siena - Clinica Odontoiatrica dell', Siena, N/A, Italy )
  • Picciotti, Maria  ( Universita di Siena - Clinica Odontoiatrica dell', Siena, N/A, Italy )
  • Di Vece, Luca  ( Universita di Siena - Clinica Odontoiatrica dell', Siena, N/A, Italy )
  • Viviano, Massimo  ( Universita di Siena - Clinica Odontoiatrica dell', Siena, N/A, Italy )
  • Viviano, Francesco  ( Universita di Siena - Clinica Odontoiatrica dell', Siena, N/A, Italy )
  • Faleri, Giacomo  ( Universita di Siena - Clinica Odontoiatrica dell', Siena, N/A, Italy )
  • Goracci, Cecilia  ( Universita di Siena - Clinica Odontoiatrica dell', Siena, N/A, Italy )
    • Poster Session
    Oral Medicine and Pathology-Posters
    09/06/2013