Open AccessOral lichen planus: An update on pathogenesis and treatment
Author(s) -
N Lavanya,
P Jayanthi,
Umadevi K Rao,
K Ranganathan
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of oral and maxillofacial pathology/journal of oral and maxillofacial pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.455
H-Index - 25
eISSN - 1998-393X
pISSN - 0973-029X
DOI - 10.4103/0973-029x.84474
Subject(s) - oral lichen planus , pathogenesis , cytotoxic t cell , immunology , cd8 , homing (biology) , medicine , apoptosis , cancer research , pathology , biology , antigen , in vitro , ecology , biochemistry
Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the mucus membrane of the oral cavity. It is a T-cell mediated autoimmune disease in which the cytotoxic CD8+ T cells trigger apoptosis of the basal cells of the oral epithelium. Several antigen-specific and nonspecific inflammatory mechanisms have been put forward to explain the accumulation and homing of CD8+ T cells subepithelially and the subsequent keratinocyte apoptosis. A wide spectrum of treatment modalities is available, from topical corticosteroids to laser ablation of the lesion. In this review, we discuss the various concepts in the pathogenesis and current treatment modalities of OLP.