comparison between serum and salivary tumor necrosis factor- alpha in oral lichen planus

ABSTRACT

Oral lichen planus is an autoimmune inflammatory disease. Tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-alpha] is an important cytokine with a large number of biological effects which is implicated in the pathogenesis of the disease. The present study was conducted to measure and compare the level of TNF-alpha in sera and saliva of patients with OLP. The study included 30 patients suffering from OLP. They were divided into 2 groups erosive OLP [15 patients] and reticular OLP [15 patients]. The study also included 10 ages and sex matched healthy subjects as control group. TNF-alpha was measured in sera and saliva by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay method: