Oral lichen planus and chronic junctional stomatitis: differences in lymphocyte subpopulations

: Omar AA, Hietanen J, Kero M, Lukinmaa PL, Hagström J

: 2009

: Acta Odontologica Scandinavica

: Acta odontologica Scandinavica

: Acta Odontol Scand

: 67

: 6

: 366

: 9

: 4

: 0001-6357

: 1502-3850

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00016350903136605

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is an oral counterpart or oral manifestation of the common skin disease lichen planus. Chronic junctional stomatitis (CJS) is a relatively unknown condition characterized by a stromal lymphocyte infiltrate, which is also a diagnostic feature of OLP. The differential diagnosis of OLP and CJS is unclear and they have been suggested to represent variants of the same disease.\nTo investigate possible differences in lymphocyte (sub)populations between these two conditions, we immunostained 10 OLP and 10 CJS specimens for CD1-a, and the lymphocyte markers, CD3, CD4, CD5, CD8, and CD20. We scored the staining results by a four-step grading system and used the Fisher exact test to analyze them statistically.\nThe proportional amount of (CD20 positive) B lymphocytes was higher in CJS than in OLP and the predominance of CD4 positive T lymphocytes over CD8 positive T lymphocytes was stronger in OLP than in CJS. The differences were statistically significant.\nThe results reflect differences in the lymphatic infiltrate between OLP and CJS. Their significance needs further investigation.\nOBJECTIVE\nMATERIAL AND METHODS\nRESULTS\nCONCLUSION