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Lichen planus and hepatitis virus infections: causal association?
Author(s) -
Rübsam Katharina,
Schroll Andreas,
Weisenseel Peter,
Multhaup Susanne,
Ruzicka Thomas,
Prinz Jörg C.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
jddg: journal der deutschen dermatologischen gesellschaft
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.463
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1610-0387
pISSN - 1610-0379
DOI - 10.1111/j.1610-0387.2011.07619.x
Subject(s) - medicine , antibody , hepatitis b virus , hepatitis c virus , population , immunology , hepatitis b , epidemiology , gastroenterology , virus , environmental health
Summary Background: The causal association between hepatitis virus infections and lichen planus (LP) remains a matter of controversy. Reliable figures for German patients are still lacking. Patients and Methods: We analyzed the prevalence of serum antibodies against hepatitis B and C viruses (HBV, HCV) in 265 LP patients and compared the results to 257 patients with chronic urticaria (URT) and 222 patients with malignant melanoma (MM). Additionally, we analyzed age‐ and sex‐specific differences. Results: The prevalence of HBV (13.2 % or 14.7 %) antibodies was significantly higher in patients with LP and URT patients than in the MM control group (HBV: 5.4 %, p < 0.001). The prevalence of HCV antibodies among LP and URT patients (2.6 % or 0.8 %) was not significantly greater (p > 0.05) than in MM patients (0.4 %). The prevalences of HBV and HCV in the MM control group were comparable to those in the general German population (HBV: 5–8 %, HCV: 0.4–0.7 %). An analysis by sub‐groups showed that these differences resulted from sex‐ and age‐dependent prevalences. HBV antibodies were significantly more common only in male LP patients (16.1 %) and in male (20.0 %) and female URT patients (15.6 %) aged 31–60 years. The greater prevalence of HCV in female LP patients older than 60 years of age was not significant. Conclusions: LP is not specifically associated with hepatitis B or C antibodies in the Caucasian population of Germany. The higher prevalences of HBV antibodies found in LP and URT patients may be a reflection of age‐ and sex‐related factors rather than disease‐specific exposure to HBV infections. The increased prevalences seen in patients with LP or URT compared to MM patients may suggest that HBV infection serves as an unspecific trigger for a specific immune reaction of another origin.