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Intra‐epithelial subpopulations of T lymphocytes and Langerhans cells in oral lichen planus
Author(s) -
Walton L. J.,
Macey M. G.,
Thornhill M. H.,
Farthing P. M.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of oral pathology and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.887
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1600-0714
pISSN - 0904-2512
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0714.1998.tb01926.x
Subject(s) - oral lichen planus , flow cytometry , epithelium , keratinocyte , biology , immunofluorescence , pathology , t lymphocyte , lymphocyte , oral mucosa , immunology , antigen , medicine , cell culture , antibody , genetics
This study has addressed the question of whether there is selective recruitment and distribution of intra‐epithelial leucocytes in lesions of oral lichen planus (OLP). T‐lymphocyte subsets were examined in the epithelium and peripheral blood of patients and controls using flow cytometry and double immunofluorescence, and the relationship between keratinocyte intercellular adhesion molecule‐1 (ICAM‐1) expression with T‐lymphocyte and Langerhans cell (LC) distribution was examined. The circulating ‘memory’subset (CD45RO + ) of T‐helper cells (CD4 + ) was increased from 49.1% in controls to 65.7% in patients ( P = 0.005), while the ‘naive’subset (CD45RA + ), which was absent from control epithelium, comprised 24% of helper cells in OLP ( P =0.037) and all T‐cell and LC counts were significantly raised in ICAM‐1‐expressing areas of epithelium. These data demonstrate changes in intra‐epithelial T‐lymphocyte and LC populations compared with normal oral mucosa and suggest there is selective recruitment in OLP. In addition, Keratinocyte ICAM‐1 expression does appear to be associated with accumulation of infiltrating T lymphocytes and LC.