Comparison of seropositivity of HCV between oral lichen planus and healthy control group in Hamedan province (west of Iran)

Background: Lichen planus is an idiopathic inflammatory disease of the skin, nail, hair and mucous membranes. Oral lichen planus (LP) is a chronic inflammatory condition that affects the oral mucous membranes with a variety of clinical presentations. Various etiologies include HCV suggested for LP, and the aim of this study was comparison of seropositivity of HCV in LP patients and control group. Methods: All oral LP patients that were referred to dermatology clinic of farshchian hospitalwere entered in the study. Five cc of clot blood was taken from each patient and tested for anti-HCVand when anti-HCV tested positive another 2cc clot bloodwas taken for HCV-Rt-PCR test. The results were analyzed with SPSS 16. Results: This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted on 30 oral lichen planus patients [males 13(43.3%) females 17(56.7%)] with mean ages of 46±13.7years and 60 healthy individual [males 26(43.3%) females 34(56.7%)]. There was no oral lichen planus patients who had anti-HCV positive whiles 2 males(3.3%) of healthy group had anti-HCV positive which was confirmed by HCV-Rt-PCR. Conclusions: This study showed that there is no correlation between seropositivity of HCV and oral lichen planus in our patients in the west of Iran.