Expression and significance of E-cadherin in oral lichen planus

DU Yong; LI Haobo

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1002-7386.2015.16.007

Abstract：Objective To investigate the expression of E-cadherin in oral lichen planus ( OLP) and to explore the role of E-cadherin in pathogenesis and carcinomatous change of OLP in order to provide scientific evidences for early diagnosis and treatment of OLP canceration .Methods Fifty-two OLP specimens were collected , at the same time, 41 normal oral mucous membrane specimens were served as control group .Using E-cadherin monoclonal antibody as primary antibody ,taking E-cadherin-positive normal oral mucous membrane specimen as positive controls and using PBS as negative controls instead of primary antibody , these specimens were detected by immmunohistology ( SP ) to observe the distribution and intensity of positive staining, moreover , the expression of E-cadherin was analyzed .Results Twenty-five specimens out of the 52 OLP specimens showed normal positive expression of E-cadherin , however , the other 27 specimens showed abnormal positive expression of E-cadherin, with abnormal positive rate being 51.92%.However in control group, 39 out of 41 specimens showed normal positive expression and 2 specimens showed abnormal positive expression , with abnormal positive rate being 4.88%, there was a significant difference between two groups .Conclusion The abnormal positive expression rate of E-cadherin in OLP is significantly higher than that in normal oral mucous membrane ,which suggests that E-cadherin plays a certain role in the canceration of OLP ,and it is further confirmed that OLP is possible to be cancerated .