Prevalence of human papillomavirus in tissue lesions of oral lichen planus patients

Introduction:Oral lichen planus treatment offers favorable clinical results over time due to its widespread prevalence. However, to date, there is still no theoretical agreement on the cause of this disease. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the frequency of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA in oral lichen planus (OLP) tissue samples by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method.Methods:This retrospective study was carried out from 1387 to 1398 on 40 OLP samples (24non-erosive-atrophic and 16 erosive-atrophic forms) in the Oral Pathology Department of Mashhad Dental School. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was undertaken to identify HPV-DNA. Subsequently, the samples for HPV-DNA underwent PCR analysis again with the specific primers. The data were analyzed statistically by chi-square and independent t-test test regarding the significance levelof lower than 0.05.Results: The population consisted of 29 women (72.5%) and 11 men (27.5%) with an average age of 49.48± 2.78 years. Human papillomavirus DNA in none of the studied samples (in none of the groups) was detected by PCR. Gender distribution in the studied groups was not significantly different from each other, as the groups did not differ significantly in average age.Conclusion: No HPV-positive samples were observed in oral lichen planus samples based on the recent findings in the current study of the Iranian population. Nevertheless, the patients› demographic data were not meaningfully associated. More sample sizes with a control group and a complete medical history should be recruited in further studies. Using complementary methods to approve the PCR method can help further studies to demonstrate accurate results

The role of altered microRNA expression in premalignant and malignant head and neck lesions with epithelial origin

Abstract Background and Aims The premalignant lesions of the oral cavity carry a risk of transformation to malignancy. Hence, early diagnosis followed by timely intervention remarkably affects the prognosis of patients. During tumorigenesis, particular microRNAs (miRNAs) show altered expressions and because of their post transcriptionally regulatory role could provide favorable diagnostic, therapeutic, or prognostic values in head and neck cancers. Methods In this review, we have demonstrated diagnostic, prognostic, and potential therapeutic roles of some miRNAs associated with oral premalignant and malignant lesions based on previous validate studies. Results It is previously documented that dysregulation of miRNAs contributes to cancer development and progression. MiRNAs could be tumor suppressors that normally suppress cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis or play as oncogenes that improved tumorigenesis process. Altered expression of miRNAs has also been reported in premalignant oral epithelial lesions such as leukoplakia, oral submucous fibrosis, oral lichen planus and some malignant carcinoma like oral squamous cell, verrucous, spindle cell, Merkel cell carcinoma and basal cell. Conclusion Some of miRNAs could be new therapeutic candidates in miRNA‐based target gene therapy. Although more investigations are required to identify the most favorable miRNA candidate, altered expression of some miRNAs could be used as biomarkers in premalignant lesions and oral cancers with high sensitivity and specificity

Association between Tissue Expression of Toll-Like Receptor and Some Clinicopathological Indices in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Background: The oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) composes about 90 of all head and neck cancers. The toll-like receptor (TLR)+ immune cells have potential of invasion and malignancy transformation. The aim of this study was assessment of possible associations between clinicopathological indices and TLR2 and TLR9 gene expression in OSCC. Methods: Forty-two OSCC samples with related healthy margins including 25 early and 17 advanced stages were gathered. The samples were classified histologically from grade I to II. The expression of TLR2 and TLR2 was evaluated by Real-time PCR. The patient�s disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed using SPSS V.23 software. Results: The expression of TLR2 and TLR9 genes in tumor tissues (especially in grade I and II) were higher than healthy surgical margin tissue (p< 0.001). TLR9 expression in grade II was statistically significant than grade I in tumor tissue (p< 0.001). TLR9 expression in advanced stage was statistically significant in compare to early stage (p= 0.012). In advanced stage both overall survival (p= 0.029) and disease-free survival (p= 0.012) were statistically lower than early stage. The follow-up time to recurrence in advanced stage was statistically lower than early stage (p= 0.007). Conclusions: Overexpression of TLRs 2, 9 play role in the pathogenesis and tumor development of OSCC and can be applied as biomarker in prognostic approaches. © 202