Serum level of estrogen in Iranian patients with oral lichen planus

Background Oral lichen planus (OLP) is one of the most common diseases in the oral cavity and has a chronic inflammatory nature. The etiology of this disease remains unclear. OLP is more prevalent in women, but to our knowledge, no study yet evaluated estrogen levels in women with OLP. Objectives To determine the serum level of estrogen in female patients with OLP. Methods This case–control observational study was conducted in patients who were referred to the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Medicine at the Tehran University of Medical Sciences. After clinical and histopathological confirmation of OLP diagnosis, and according to exclusion and inclusion criteria, 47 women with OLP and 47 healthy women (10 premenopausal and 37 postmenopausal) were included, as case and control groups, respectively. We obtained blood samples (5 mL) from each participant to measure the serum level of 17β-estradiol. Data were analyzed by Spearman rank correlation coefficients and a two-way analysis of variance with Bonferroni post hoc tests. Results Serum estrogen level in women with OLP was significantly higher than that in healthy women (P = 0.002), and it was also significantly higher in premenopausal women than postmenopausal women (P < 0.001). The severity of OLP lesions correlated with estrogen level in postmenopausal women (r = 0.650; P < 0.001); in premenopausal women (r = 0.618; P = 0.008), and in all women with OLP (r = 0.535; P < 0.001). Conclusion OLP, like other autoimmune diseases, is affected by the serum level of sex hormones such as estrogen.