EVALUATION OF THE TISSUE EXPRESSION OF THE VITAMIN D RECEPTOR (VDR) IN PATIENTS WITH ORAL LICHEN PLANUS

Abstract

<h3>Objectives</h3> To evaluate the tissue expression of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) in samples of oral lichen planus (OLP) and whether there is a correlation with clinical-demographic parameters and disease severity. <h3>Study Design</h3> Tissue samples were selected from patients whose clinical and histopathologic diagnosis of OLP was performed according to the criteria of the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology. Clinical parameters such as sex, age, location, clinical type, symptoms, extraoral manifestations, and response to corticosteroid therapy were recorded. The immunohistochemistry technique was used for semiquantitative evaluation of VDR expression in the epithelial and subepithelial regions. Density of VDR+ cells was determined using a grid reticle (0.0961 mm²). <h3>Results</h3> All cases (<i>n</i> = 15) were women with an average age of 49 years. The clinical types erosive (<i>n</i> = 8; 53.3%) and reticular (<i>n</i> = 7; 46.6%) were the most frequent. High expression of VDR+ cells was observed throughout the epithelial region in 100% of cases and, in the subepithelial region, the average percentage of immunostained inflammatory cells was 80.5%. <h3>Conclusions</h3> VDR tissue expression was high in OLP, but there were no relations with the clinical-demographic characteristics and severity parameters of this disease.