title: Comparative study of expression of smad3 in oral lichen planus and normal oral mucosa.
abstract: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the oral mucosa which is considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a premalignant condition. One step in malignant development is so called epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process whereby epithelial cells acquire mesenchymal characteristics. A factor known to induce EMT is the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), which uses the Smad proteins as mediators for its signaling. The aim of this study was to compare the expression of Smad 3 in Oral Lichen Planus and normal oral mucosa. This descriptive analytic study was performed on 30 patients with OLP (21 women and 9 men with mean age of 45.23± 2.44 years) and 20 normal oral mucosa (14 women and 6 men with mean age of 46.95± 2.21 years). The samples were studied by immunohistochemical staining. Data were analyzed with paired T-test and Wilcoxon test by SPSS software. Expression of Smad3 in OLP samples and normal oral mucosa was different. This difference was statistically significant (P<0.001). The apparently higher expression of Smad 3 in oral lichen planus compared to normal oral mucosa might help to discuss its higher potential for malignant transition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Faculty of Dentistry, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.
authors.forename: Shima
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nafarzadeh
authors.affiliation: Private Dentist, Babol, Iran.
authors.forename: Samad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ejtehadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Faculty of Dentistry, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.
authors.forename: Pouyan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Amini Shakib
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Faculty of Dentistry, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fereidooni
authors.affiliation: Non-Communicable Pediatric Diseases Research Center, Amirkola Hospital, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bijani
keywords: Oral lichen planus; smad 3; transforming growth factor β