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

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. 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). 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. 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.