Psychological status and uric acid levels in oral lichen planus patients - A case- control study

Oral lichen planus (OLP) has varied etiology and clinical expression may be influenced simultaneously by different mechanisms. Psychological disturbances and oxidative stress are some such factors proposed in the etiopathogenesis of OLP. The aim was to assess the possible association of psychological traits like stress, anxiety, depression, serum and salivary uric acid levels with disease expression in OLP patients.

A case-control study was conducted in OLP subjects (n = 43) with a clinical and histopathological diagnosis, age and gender matched healthy controls (n = 42) to evaluate psychometric properties through DASS - 42 scale and uric acid (serum and salivary levels) evaluation through "Modified Trinder Method, End point" method.

The mean depression, anxiety, stress scores in OLP group were 16.51 ± 7.21, 15.58 ± 6.78 and 15.05 ± 6.11 and the scores in control group were 6.31 ± 3.48, 5.02 ± 2.70 and 5.69 ± 3.39 respectively. The mean value of serum UA level and salivary UA level in OLP group were 4.70 ± 1.33 mg/dl and 5.25 ± 1.61 mg/dl respectively, while the corresponding scores in control group were 5.86 ± 1.12 mg/dl and 6.18 ± 1.28 mg/dl.

OLP group had significantly higher depression, anxiety, stress and total scores. Mean serum and salivary uric acid levels were significantly lower in OLP subjects when compared with controls.

Correction of psychological traits in oral lichen planus patients may significantly improve the clinical picture, while uric acid levels can be employed for biochemical evaluation in lichen planus patients to analyse oxidative stress.