Abstract

Lichen Planus (LP) is a chronic disease that affects the skin and oral mucosa.Although the precise aetiology of LP is not known, it is thought to be comprised of, in majority, genetic and immunological factors. The objective of this study was to assess the association of interleukin-17A (IL-17A) with Oral LP (OLP). 22 adult patients with OLP and 40 healthy controls were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA direct sequence technology for the polymorphism of the IL-17A gene. The genotype frequencies of G1776A (p.Arg29Ter rs139620979) and G3566A (rs7747909)in the IL-17A gene polymorphism were 9 and 13.6% in the OLP group and 0 and 40% in the controls, respectively. Although the proportion of detected polymorphisms did not differ between individuals, a higher prevalence of G3566A (rs7747909) homozygote polymorphism (4.5%) was observed in the OLP patients. Our results show no statistically significant difference in the IL-17A genotype single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) distribution amongst the two groups. Therefore, further studies on a larger population and novel genetic variants are needed to better understand the pathobiology of OLP.

Key words: Oral Lichen Planus (OLP), interleukin-17A (IL-17A) gene, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), direct sequencing.