Etiopathogenesis of Oral Lichen Planus: Highlighting the Role of T Cells, Mast Cells, RANTES, and Matrix Metalloproteinases
Georges Aoun
1 Department of Oral Medicine and Maxillofacial Radiology, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon
Corresponding Author: Professor Georges Aoun: Department of Oral Medicine and Maxillofacial Radiology, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Lebanese University; Beirut, Lebanon; E-mail: dr.georgesaoun@gmail.com; Phone: +9619233122 ; ORCID ID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5073-6882.
Cite this article: Aoun G. Etiopathogenesis of Oral Lichen Planus: Highlighting the Role of T Cells, Mast Cells, RANTES, and Matrix Metalloproteinases. Sar Med J. 2024; 1(2): Online ahead of print.. 
10.70119/0012-24
Pages: 114-117 / Published online: 06 November 2024
Original submission: 17 May 2024; Revised submission: 09 August 2024; Accepted: 13 September 2024
Abstract
Oral lichen planus (OLP) is an autoimmune chronic infl ammatory disease that aff ects the mucous membrane of the oral cavity. It is mediated by T cells, causing the basal cells of the oral epithe-lium to undergo apoptosis through the action of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells. A number of infl amma-tory mechanisms have been proposed to explain the subepithelial accumulation of CD8+ T cells as well as the death of keratinocytes that follows. This paper reviews the numerous theories on the etiopathogenesis of OLP and highlights the role of T cells, mast cells, RANTES, and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs).
Keywords: oral lichen planus, etiology, pathogenesis, histology.
