Salivary and serum interleukin-18 in patients with oral lichen planus: a study in an ethnic Chinese population.

摘要

The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential pro-inflammatory role of the cytokine interleukin (IL-18) in oral lichen planus (OLP) so as to provide a reliable and early indicator for the diagnosis of OLP. One hundred three ethnic Chinese patients with OLP were enrolled in this study, as were 48 age- and sex-matched controls. IL-18 concentrations in serum and saliva were screened by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The protein content was expressed as picograms per milliliter. OLP patients showed a high-level of IL-18 expression profile in serum compared with the control group (OLP?=?21.32?±?8.26?pg/mL, control?=?12.29?±?5.11?pg/mL, P?