Vitamin B12 and folic acid serum levels in patients with oral lichen planus and contact‒drug lichenoid reactions

Lichenoid reactions are a group of chronic inflammatory lesions of the oral mucous with various etiologic factors, including immune disorders, stress, anxiety, etc. Vitamin B12 and folic acid improve the host immune mechanisms and are effective in preventing anxiety and depression. The aim of this study was to evaluate serum levels of vitamin B12 and folic acid in patients with oral lichen planus (OLP) and contact‒drug oral lichenoid reactions (OLR) in comparison with normal controls. In this descriptive-analytical/cross-sectional study, 21 OLP (mean age of 46.84±8.59), 38 OLR patients (mean age of 49.18±13.34) and 30 normal controls (mean age of 39.86±6.99 years) were compared and the serum levels of vitamin B12 and folic acid were measured by Elecsys device using electrochemiluminescense method. Then the results were statistically analyzed with SPSS 16 using Kruskal-Wallis test (α=0.05). The groups exhibited no significant differences in the serum levels of vitamin B12 and folic acid. For vitamin B12 variable p-value was 0.099 whereas this value for folic acid was 0.095. Under the limitations of this study the serum levels of vitamin B12 and folic acid exhibited no significant differences between patients with lichen planus and lichenoid reactions and healthy individuals.