Study on expression of Th1/Th2 in oral lichen planus and its clinical significance

Objective To observe the expression of Th1/Th2 in peripheral blood of oral lichen planus(OLP) and to further explore the pathogenesis of OLP.Methods The expression of IFN-gamma mRNA(typical Th1 cytokine),IL-4 mRNA(typical Th2 cytokine) was investigated in peripheral blood mononuclear cell(PBMC) seperated from erythematous/erosive OLP(20 cases),reticular OLP(16cases) and normal controls(19 cases) using RT-PCR methods;and IFN-gamma,IL-4 in serum was tested by ELISA.Results RT-PCR results showed that expression of IL-4 mRNA is higher in erythematous/erosive OLP and reticular OLP than that in control group(P 0.01);In contrast,expression of IFN-gamma mRNA was lower in erythematous/erosive OLP and reticular OLP than that control group(P 0.01).ELISA assay indicated that erythematous/erosive and reticular OLP patients had a higher expression level of IL-4 protein and lower expression level of IFN-gamma protein in serum than normal controls(P0.01).However,there were no significant differences between erythematous/erosive and reticular groups(P0.05).Conclusions The data accumulated here strongly indicate that unbalanced expression of Th1/Th2 was involved in the pathogenesis of OLP,and provide new ideas for clinical treatment of OLP.