title: Evaluation of Relationship between Lichen Planus and HCV Antibody.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Lichen planus is a relatively common chronic mucocutaneaous disease with an unknown cause, and is considered a manifestation of cell-mediated immune response. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and its subgroups have been associated with lichen planus in different geographic locations. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the prevalence of HCV antibody in patients with lichen planus in northwest Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  This descriptive analytical study included 30 patients with cutaneous lichen planus, 30 pa-tients with oral lichen planus, and 30 healthy individuals as controls. Anti-HCV test was run for all the subjects. Descriptive statistics as well as chi-square test, to compare means in the three study groups, were applied to the data using SPSS 14.0 computer software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Age and sex differences between the groups were not significant. No statistically significant differences were ob-served in anti-HCV test results between the groups (P = 0.50).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  No statistically significant relationships were observed between lichen planus and HCV antibody in the studied samples.
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Oral Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Taghavi Zenouz
authors.forename: Masoumeh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mehdipour
authors.forename: Narges
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gholizadeh
authors.forename: Behrooz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Naghili
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jafari Heydarlou