Immunohistochemical analysis of cells in mucosal lesions of oral lichen planus

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Abstract
We immunohistochemically analyzed the immunological background of the pathogenesis of oral lichen planus (OLP). Abundant lymphocytes infiltrated OLP mucosal lesions, particularly in satellite cell necrosis (SCN) regions, and cytotoxic/suppressor T lymphocytes were predominant in seven of 10 OLP cases. Some carried IL-2 receptors, particularly in SCN. Keratinocytes of the mucosal lesions expressed both HLA-ABC and HLA-DR antigens. This suggests that activated cytotoxic/suppressor T lymphocytes may play a major role in cytotoxity to keratinocytes as effector cells in OLP. OKM1-, OKM5+, HLA-DR+ and IL-1+ cells, vascular endothelial cells and clusters of spindle-shaped or oval cells, which had the same surface characteristics as a monocyte macrophage subset, were abundant and, together with migrating lymphocytes, might play a role in the immune response in mucosal lesions of OLP.