Role of interleukin-4 in pathogenesis of oral lichen planus: A systematic review

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a premalignant mucocutaneous disease that affects 1-2% of the adult population. Immunological factor may act as etiological factor. The cellular immune cells such as T cells are important in pathogenesis of OLP. Interleukin-4 (IL-4) is secreted by T-helper 2 (Th2). Several studies have been carried out on the role of IL-4 in OLP. The aim of this study was to review the level of IL-4 in OLP, effective factors in the production of IL-4 and its role in the development of OLP.

A search in PubMed was performed on the literature published from 2000 until august 2019 using the following keywords: "oral lichen planus" or "OLP" and "interleukin-4" or "IL-4".

Originally, 37 articles were considered, of which 28 case-control articles were selected according to the inclusion/exclusion criteria.

This review study shows that IL-4 plays a key role in the development of OLP. According to the past studies, there are several factors contributing to the production of this cytokine. Identification of the routes of production of IL-4 and its role in OLP might be useful for development of new preventive and therapeutic methods in management of patients with OLP.