CURRENT ASSESSMENTS REGARDING THE PATHOGENESIS AND TREATMENT STRATEGIES OF ORAL LICHEN PLANUS – A REVIEW

Abstract

Oral Lichen planus (OLP) is an autoimmune chronic inflammatory disease of mucous membrane. It is mostly CD8+T-cell mediated autoimmune response with unknown etiology and pathogenesis. It generally affects approximately 1% to 2% of the world’s population. OLP affects women more than men at a ratio of approximately 1.4:1. The prevalence of OLP ranges between 0.5% and 3% and in Indian populations it is 2.6%. In recent years, many possible causes regarding the pathogenesis of OLP have been suggested, the exact nature is still unclear. Most data suggests that some specific antigen and nonspecific mechanism are involved. Antigen presentation by basal keratinocytes and antigen-specific keratinocyte killing by CD8+ cytotoxic T-cells are said to be antigen-specific mechanisms. It is still not clear whether antigen is exogenous or endogenous in origin and what specific antigen is responsible for triggering the inflammatory responses. Mast cell degranulation and activation of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) specific mechanisms. This paper explains how these two mechanism work together and also the current understanding regarding other factors which are responsible for its pathogenesis.