Assessment of Bax and Bcl-2 Immunoexpression in Patients with Oral Lichen Planus and Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Shima Nafarzadeh 1 , 2
Sina Jafari 3
Ali Bijani 4
1 Dental Material Research Center, Dental Faculty, Babol University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Babol, Iran
2 Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Dental Faculty, Babol University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Babol, Iran
3 Student Research Committee, Dental Faculty, Babol University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Babol, Iran
4 Non-Communicable Pediatric Diseases Research Centre, Babol University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Babol, Iran
Abstract
Lichen planus (LP) is a chronic inflammatory disease of probable immune-based etiology. The pathogenesis of
LP is unclear, but apoptotic changes in epidermal (epithelial) cells have been reported. Destruction of the basal
cell layer is observed and many changes in cell proliferation, cell repair and cell death occur in the injured
mucosal epithelium. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the expression of bax and bcl-2 in oral
lichen planus (OLP), well differentiated oral squamous cell carcinoma (WOSCC) and normal mucosa. Sixty one
paraffin-embedded biopsy including 11 cases of WOSCC, 30 cases of OLP (n=15 erosive OLP [OLP-E], n=15
reticular OLP [OLP-R]) and 20 normal mucosa were entered in our research. We used immunohistochemistry
staining method for assessing bax and bcl-2 expression in epithelial layers. The percentage of stained cells was
estimated in 5 randomized microscopic fields and classified as (-): 0%, (+) :< 10%, (++): 10-25%, (+++): 26-
50%, (++++): > 50% positive cells. The data were analyzed with Mann-Whitney, Chi Square, and KruskalWallis tests. Significant differences in bax expression were observed among OLP, WOSCC compared to normal
mucosa (P=0.008). No significant difference in bax expression between OLP-E and OLP-R compared to
WOSCC was seen (P>0.05). Bcl-2 was negative for all OLP and normal mucosa samples, and weak positivity
was observed in WOSCC samples. According to the findings of our study, it may be possible to correlate the
difference of bax and bcl-2 expression levels among the mentioned lesions to the malignant potential of OLP.
Keywords
Oral Lichen Planus
oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma
apoptosis