Artemisinin and its derivatives: a potential therapeutic approach for oral lichen planus

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a common T-cell-mediated oral mucosal disease, whose pathogenesis mainly includes antigen-specific and non-specific mechanisms. As a refractory chronic inflammatory disease, there is still no curable management for OLP till now.

Artemisinins are a family of compounds that are widely used as frontline treatment for malaria worldwide. In addition to its well-established antimalarial properties, emerging evidence hints that artemisinin family drugs also possess preferential immunoregulatory and anti-inflammation properties, such as modifying T lymphocytes' activation and cytokines release, modulating Th1/Th2 balance, activating regulatory T cells (Tregs), modulating inflammatory signaling pathways, as well as acting on non-specific mechanisms of OLP. However, there is still no report focused on the influence of artemisinins on OLP.

This review outlined the data-based immunomodulatory effects of artemisinins on different immune cells in conjunction with their therapeutic prospective with regard to the pathogenesis of OLP, suggesting that artemisinin and its derivatives might be possible candidates for treatment of OLP.