title: Hypertrophic lichen planus in three HIV-positive patients: a histologic and immunological study.
abstract: It is well known that several dermatoses, such as psoriasis vulgaris and seborrheic dermatitis, present with more extensive and severe disease in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1). Except for one report, however, lichen planus (LP) has not been described in patients with HIV infection. In this report we describe the clinical and morphological features of 3 HIV-positive patients who presented with extensive hypertrophic LP. To determine if alteration in the immune status in HIV-positive hosts is reflected in the nature of the infiltrate in LP, we determined the proportion of T-helper and T-suppressor cells in the infiltrate in 1 case. The majority of the infiltrating lymphocytes in the dermis were of the T-helper phenotype. Epidermal lymphocytes, however, were predominantly of the T-suppressor phenotype. We conclude that LP in HIV-positive hosts may present with more extensive disease than in immunocompetent hosts. Based on our immunohistochemical studies, we conclude that, similar to immunocompetent hosts, T-helper cells are the predominant cells in the dermal infiltrate of LP in HIV-positive patients. However, in contrast with reports in the literature on LP in immunocompetent hosts, we found that, in the case studied, the epidermal lymphocytes were predominantly of the T-suppressor phenotype.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Rochester, New York.
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Rippis
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Scott
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005629:Frozen Sections; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D006984:Hypertrophy / Q000473:pathology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008010:Lichen Planus / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000473:pathology