engleski

Salivary levels of interleukin 6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in oral lichen planus

Oral lichen ruber (OLR) is a chronic mucocutaneous autoimmune disease. According to the WHO classification OLR is considered to be premalignant lesion. Because of possible malignant transformation and unclear etiopathogenesis, current research is focused on immunological background of the disease, especially on the role of cytokines in the development and perpetuation of the OLR and the oral cancer. To investigate whether interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor- alpha (TNF-a) are involved in OLR local immunoreaction, we determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay the levels of these cytokines in whole unstimulated saliva from patients with OLR compared to healthy subjects. OLR patients were divided according to clinical presentation in groups: LRE-with the erosive type and LRP with the reticular type without inflammation The levels of IL-6 and TNF-a were significantly increased in the LRE patients when compared to the control group (p < 0.001). The LRE patients had significantly higher levels of IL-6 compared to the LRP patients (p < 0.001). The levels of TNF-a were significantly higher in the LRP patients compared to the healthy controls (p < 0.05), but the levels of IL-6 were not. In the LRE patients higher levels of IL-6 showed positive correlation to higher clinical level of the inflammation. The results of this study with higher salivary cytokine levels of IL-6 and TNF-a in the LRE patients compared to the healthy controls signifies a local immunity in the LRE patients. Higher levels of TNF-a were found in both investigated types of OLR, and IL-6 levels were higher compared to the healthy controls only in the LRE patients. These results could mean that these cytokines are not involved equally in pathogenesis of the LRE and the LRP.

IL-6; TNF-alpha; oral lichen

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