Serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in patients with lichen planus and lichenoid reactions (contact/drug-induced)

Introduction: Lichen planus is a skin and mucosal disease with an unknown etiology. However, a number of factors are known to play a role. One of these factors is inflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-α, which play a key role in inflammation. The aim of this study was to evaluate serum levels of TNF-α in patients with oral lichen planus (OLP) and (contact/drug-induced) oral lichenoid reactions (OLR) in comparison with normal controls.Materials and methods: In this descriptive-analytical, cross-sectional study, 10 OLP (mean age 46.84±8.59), 20 OLR patients (mean age 49.18±13.34) and 20 normal controls (mean age 39.86±6.99) were compared and the serum levels of TNF-α were measured by ELISA. Data were analyzed with SPSS 16, using Kruskal-Wallis test (α=0.05).Results: The OLR patients, OLP patients and normal group exhibited no significant differences in the serum levels of TNF-α (p value = 0.465). The mean serum levels of TNF-α in OLR and OLP patients and in healthy individuals were 10.45, 30.76 and 50.73, respectively.Conclusion: Under the limitations of the present study, there were no significant differences in the serum levels of TNF-α in patient with OLP and OLR and healthy subjects. Therefore, TNF-α cannot be used to make a distinction between lichen planus and lichenoid reaction lesions. Key words: Lichen planus, Lichenoid reactions, TNF-α