A Comparative Study on the Prevalence of HPV16 Virus in Oral Lichen Planus and Oral Lichenoid Lesions Using PCR Technique

Abstract

Background and Objectives Oral lichen planus (OLP) and oral lichenoid lesion (OLL) have similar clinical and histopathological features but are with different etiology and treatment. Therefore, their differentiating is of interest. The role of human papillomavirus (HPV) in OLP development has been reported in previous studies, but its role in development of OLLs has not been investigated. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the presence of HPV16 in OLL and OLP. Subjects and Methods This retrospective study was performed on 21 paraffin blocks of OLP and 15 paraffin blocks of OLL collected from the archive section of the Department of Pathology, Faculty of Dentistry, Islamic Azad University, Khorasgan branch in Isfahan, Iran in 2017. For the confirmation of DNA extraction from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue blocks, β-globin gene expression was examined using The samples were tested for the presence of HPV16 genome by PCR. Data were analyzed using chisquare, Fisher’s exact test, and independent t-test. Results The prevalence of HPV16 was 0% in the OLP group and 6.7% (1 out of 15) in the OLL group. Fisher’s exact test did not show a significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). Conclusion There is no significant association between HPV16 infection and having OLL and OLP. Further studies with more samples are recommended.