The Interleukin-17 (IL-17) Concentration in Saliva of Patients with The Interleukin-17 (IL-17) Concentration in Saliva of Patients with Oral Lichen Planus

Abstract

Background: The aim of the present study was to measure the clinical and pain score in these patients and to measure the level of IL-17 in saliva of patients having different forms of Oral lichen planus lesions (OLP). Subjects and methods: According to sample size calculation, the present study was done on a total of 40 subjects divided into 3 groups Group (I) Twenty patients having erosive/atrophic OLP. Group (II) Ten patients having reticular OLP and Group (III) Ten healthy control patients. Salivary samples were collected from the subjects of the three groups to evaluate the levels of IL-17 using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: The values of the clinical and pain score were statistically significantly higher in the erosive/atrophic group than both the reticular and healthy control subjects. The levels of IL-17 in saliva of patients with erosive/atrophic OLP were statistically significantly higher than in patients with the reticular OLP and healthy control subjects, and there was a high statistically significant difference between the reticular group and the healthy control subjects p<0.001. Conclusions: According to the results, the salivary levels of IL-17 are higher in the erosive/ atrophic type of OLP than the reticular type and both are higher than the healthy control subjects. This suggested that IL- 17 has a great role in the immunepathogenesis of OLP and may be of diagnostic value for the severity of the condition of the erosive/atrophic OLP.