Assessment of local angiogenesis and vascular endothelial growth factor in the patients with atrophic-erosive and reticular oral lichen planus.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to assess local angiogenesis and expression of VEGF in atrophic-erosive and reticular oral lichen planus (OLP).

STUDY DESIGN: Microvessel density (MVD) and VEGF level in 30 OLP subjects and 7 matched controls were detected by immunohistochemistry and ELISA.

RESULTS: MVD and VEGF levels in whole OLP group were significantly elevated (P = .033, P < .0001, respectively), and there was a positive correlation between MVD and VEGF (correlation coefficient = 0.84, P < .0001). MVD in atrophic-erosive OLP was significantly higher than that in controls (P = .001) and reticular OLP (P = .042), and the expression of VEGF in both subgroups was significantly higher (P < .0001, P = .008, respectively) compared to control group.

CONCLUSION: These results indicated that angiogenesis and VEGF expression were closely correlated to the different clinical forms of OLP lesions, which may give new insights into the mechanisms and treatment strategy of OLP.