Role of the Th17 cells in oral lichen planus

Objective To detect the expressions of IL-17mRNA and IL-23mRNA in epithelium and lamina propria of oral mucosa and investigate the role of Th17 cells on oral lichen planus(OLP).Methods Oral mucosa from 10 cases with OLP were taken as research objects and 6 healthy volunteers were the control.Real-time RT-PCR was used to detect the expressions of IL-17 and IL-23 mRNA of the normal and OLP oral mucosa.Results The expression levels of IL-17mRNA and IL-23mRNA in both epithelium and lamina propria of the OLP group were significantly higher compared with the normal oral mucosa group(P0.05).In the OLP group,the expression level of IL-17mRNA in lamina propria was significantly higher than that in the epithelium(P0.05).However,the expression levels of IL-23 mRNA showed no significant difference between the lamina propria and epithelium(P0.05).Conclusion The increase of cytokine mRNA expressions related to the function of Th17 cells may be correlated to the pathogenesis of OLP.