title: Immunohistochemical Expression of Stromelysin-2 (St-2) In Patients with Oral Lichen Planus and Its Clinical Significance.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory disorder with various clinical features; however, its pathogenesis is still unknown. In OLP, destruction of the basement membrane and migration of T-cell may be mediated by matrix metalloproteinases.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to examine the role of stromelysin-2 (ST-2) expression in pathogenesis of OLP.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective analysis of 46 samples including 26 patients with OLP and 20 control patients with oral irritation fibroma was performed. All samples were stained employing immunohistochemistry method. After immunohistochemical staining for ST-2 marker and microscopic examination of the samples, the expression levels of ST-2 were evaluated. The data were analyzed by SPSS (V.21) and applying Mann-Whitney test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The strength of ST-2 expression was seen in most cases of OLP group, whereas control group did not show ST-2 expression. Mean expression of ST-2 in connective tissue was 1.7±1.10 and in the epithelium of the OLP samples was 1.6±1.06. Likewise, the ST-2 expression in connective tissue and epithelium of the OLP erosive lesions was significantly higher in comparison with reticular lesions (p< 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  According to the results of this study, we suggest that ST-2 may be involved in the formation of OLP lesions and it may play a key role in the transformation of reticular to erosive form of OLP.
authors.affiliation: Students Scientific Research Center, School of Dentistry, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran.
authors.forename: Masoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miri-Moghaddam
authors.affiliation: Oral and Dental Disease Research Center, Dept. of Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology, School of Dentistry, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamideh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kadeh
keywords:  Pathology;  Stromelysin-2 ; Oral lichen planus 