Analysis of vitamin D receptor expression levels in lesional tissues of oral lichen planus

ZHAO Can; MA Ning; SHI Jing

doi:10.19749/j.cn.cjgd.1672-2973.2025.04.005

Abstract：Objective To explore the expression of vitamin D receptor(VDR)in the lesion tissues of oral lichen planus(OLP)and its relationship with the serum vitamin D levels of patients,and to analyze the connection between VDR and the pathogenesis of OLP.Methods Thirty-seven patients with OLP diagnosed at the Department of Oral Mucosal Diseases of Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital from June 2021 to June 2022 were recruited and categorized into two groups:19 cases with erosive OLP(EOLP group)and 18 cases with non-erosive OLP(NEOLP group).Furthermore,14 healthy individuals were enrolled as controls(HC group).The expression of VDR and its mRNA in the lesion tissues was detected by immunohistochemistry and real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR,and the serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D[25(OH)D]levels were measured by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay.Spearman correlation analysis was performed.Results The expression levels of VDR protein and mRNA in the EOLP group were significantly lower than those in the HC group(P＜0.05),while the expression levels of VDR protein and mRNA in the NEOLP group were lower than those in the HC group,but the difference was not statistically significant(P＞0.05).There was no significant correlation between serum 25(OH)D and the expression of VDR protein and VDR mRNA in the oral mucosal lesion tissues of OLP patients(P＞0.05).Conclusion The assessment of VDR in the lesion tissues of OLP patients with different clinical types suggests that the deficiency or insufficiency of VDR may be involved in the pathogenesis of OLP,and the abnormal vitamin D metabolism in the lesion sites may promote the occurrence and development of OLP.