Abstract:
Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a stress induced inflammatory
condition with malignant potency. The mdr1 (multidrug resistance) is
a stress gene overexpressed in cancerous conditions and its translated
form, the p-glycoprotein efflux transporter is usually overexpressed
with chemotherapy, leading to chemoresistance. OLP, a lesion with
carcinogenic potency, is broadly classified into the asymptomatic
reticular form and the aggressive erosive form. The objective of the
study was to verify the expression level of p-glycoprotein in antifungaltreated and untreated reticular OLP, in untreated erosive OLP and
erosive OLP patients treated with corticosteroid. Semi-quantitative
reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (SQ-RTPCR) and
ELISA were performed on biopsy tissue samples to evaluate the mdr1
mRNA and protein expression of p-glycoprotein, respectively. The
present study shows for the first time that mdr1 mRNA as well as its
translated form p-glycoprotein are overexpressed in OLP subjects
compared to healthy individuals. This overexpression is significantly
higher in erosive than in reticular OLP patients, further confirming
that the erosive form has higher risk for multidrug resistance. A higher
expression is also observed in corticosteroid-treated erosive cases than
similar untreated ones. The gradation of expression is in conformity
with severity of the disease.
