Serum interleukin-8 level is a more sensitive marker than serum interleukin-6 level in monitoring the disease activity of oral lichen planus.
BACKGROUND
Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a T-cell-mediated inflammatory disease. Interleukin (IL)-8 is a pro-inflammatory cytokine of host response to injury and inflammation.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether serum IL-8 level was a more sensitive marker than serum IL-6 level in monitoring the disease activity of OLP and to assess whether IL-8 was a useful serum marker in evaluating the therapeutic effects of levamisole on OLP patients.


METHODS
In this study, we used a solid phase, two-site sequential chemiluminescent immunometric assay to determine the baseline serum levels of IL-6 and IL-8 in 158 patients with OLP, nine patients with traumatic ulcers (TU) and 54 normal control subjects. Some OLP patients with the serum IL-6 or IL-8 levels higher than the upper limit of normal serum concentration were treated with levamisole for 0.5-6.0 months and their serum IL-6 and IL-8 levels were measured after treatment.


RESULTS
We found that 28% (44 of 158) OLP, 28% (40 of 142) erosive OLP (EOLP), and 25% (four of 16) nonerosive OLP (NEOLP) patients had a serum IL-6 level greater than the upper normal limit of 4.7 pg mL(-1). In contrast, 63% (99 of 158) OLP, 63% (90 of 142) EOLP and 56% (nine of 16) NEOLP patients had a serum IL-8 level greater than the upper normal limit of 8.7 pg mL(-1). In some OLP patients with the serum IL-6 or IL-8 levels higher than the upper limit of normal serum concentration, treatment with levamisole for a period of 0.5-6.0 months could significantly reduce the mean serum IL-6 level from 14.3 +/- 1.9 pg mL(-1) to 3.2 +/- 0.6 pg mL(-1) (P < 0.001) and could significantly reduce the mean serum IL-8 level from 95.8 +/- 17.1 pg mL(-1) to 14.8 +/- 5.8 pg mL(-1) (P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Because measurement of the serum IL-8 level can detect more OLP patients with an abnormal serum level than measurement of the serum IL-6 level (63% vs. 28%), we conclude that serum IL-8 level is a more sensitive marker than serum IL-6 level in monitoring the disease activity of OLP. Levamisole can modulate both the serum IL-6 and IL-8 levels in OLP patients. IL-8, like IL-6, is also a useful serum marker in evaluating the therapeutic effects of levamisole on OLP patients.
Sun
A
A
School of Dentistry, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Wang
J T
JT
Chia
J S
JS
Chiang
C P
CP
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007155:Immunologic Factors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000097:blood*; D007978:Levamisole / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017676:Lichen Planus, Oral / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000473:pathology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D015415:Biomarkers; D007155:Immunologic Factors; D015850:Interleukin-6; D016209:Interleukin-8; D007978:Levamisole