Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 17, 2026
An Efficient and Simple Method to Establish NK and T Cell Lines from Patients with Chronic Active Epstein-Barr Virus Infection
Published on: March 30, 2018
The association between Epstein-Barr virus and oral lichen planus: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Sajna Ashraf1, Sadeq A Al-Maweri1,2, Nader Alaizari1
1Department of Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, AlFarabi Colleges of Dentistry and Nursing, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Background:
Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a relatively common inflammatory disease, with unclear etiology. A number of studies have linked Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) with OLP. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the available evidence regarding the potential association between EBV and OLP.
Methods:
Online databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest, and Google Scholar) were searched from date of inception till May 2020. Studies were included if they met the following criteria: 1) observational studies that assessed the relationship between EBV and OLP, 2) the study comprised OLP patients and control subjects, 3) diagnosis of OLP was confirmed histopathologically, and 4) articles were in English. Studies without control groups, experimental studies, case reports, and reviews were excluded. The fixed-effects model was performed for meta-analyses using RevMan 5.3 software.
Results:
A total of 10 studies comprising 386 OLP cases and 304 controls were included. Of these, only 8 studies were eligible for the meta-analysis. The results of the quality assessment showed that only 2 studies were of high quality, while the remaining studies were of moderate quality. The results of the pooled eight studies revealed a significant positive association between EBV and OLP (OR = 4.41, 95% CI: [2.74, 7.11], P < .0001).
Conclusion:
The results of the present systematic review suggest that EBV infection is statistically associated with increased risk of OLP. However, these results are preliminary, and high-quality, large-scale studies are warranted to further explore the potential role of EBV in the pathogenesis of OLP.
