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Expression of COX-2 and bcl-2 in oral lichen planus lesions and lichenoid reactions
Alven J Arreaza1, Helen Rivera2, María Correnti3
1Dental Therapeutics, School of Dentistry, Central University of Venezuela, Caracas 1051, Venezuela.
Unlabelled:
Oral lichen planus and lichenoid reactions are autoimmune type inflammatory conditions of the oral mucosa with similar clinical and histological characteristics. Recent data suggest that oral lichenoid reactions (OLR) present a greater percentage of malignant transformation than oral lichen planus (OLP).
Objective:
To compare the expression of bcl-2 and COX-2 in OLP and OLR.
Methods:
The study population consisted of 65 cases; 34 cases diagnosed as OLR and 31 as OLP. A retrospective study was done, and bcl-2 and COX-2 expression was semiquantitatively analysed.
Results:
Fifty-three per cent (18/34) of the ORL samples tested positive for COX-2, whereas in the OLP group, 81% of the samples (25/31) immunostained positive for COX-2. The Fisher's exact test for the expression of COX-2 revealed that there are significant differences between the two groups, P = 0.035. With respect to the expression of the bcl-2 protein, 76% (26/34) of the samples were positive in OLR, while 97% (30/31) were positive in the group with OLP. The Fisher's exact test for the expression of bcl-2 revealed that there are significant statistical differences between the two groups, P = 0.028.
Conclusions:
The expression of bcl-2 and COX-2 was more commonly expressed in OLP when compared with OLR.
