Serum angiopoietin‐2 level as a novel potential biomarker in oral lichen planus

AbstractBackgroundLichen planus is a common chronic cutaneous inflammatory disease. Recent advances evidenced that angiogenesis is tightly connected to it. More recently, the endothelial specific growth factor angiopoietin‐2 has been clarified to interact with vascular endothelial growth factor. Angiopoietin‐2 level has not been investigated in lichen planus.AimTo evaluate serum level of angiopoietin‐2 in cutaneous and oral lichen planus.MethodsNinety patients were investigated, 45 patients with lichen planus. In addition to forty‐five healthy control, the activity of the disease was estimated at the time of examination. The serum level of angiopoietin‐2 had been estimated by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. The relationships between angiopoietin‐2 serum level and disease severity, type of lichen, and visual analogue scale score (VAS) were determined.ResultsThe serum levels of angiopoietin‐2 were substantially higher in patients with both cutaneous and oral lesions than patients with cutaneous lichen planus only (P < .001).ConclusionsSerum angiopoietin‐2 is elevated in patients compared with normal subjects and is correlated with the presence of oral lesions and disease severity, that reflects its role in angiogenesis and inflammation, and angiopoietin‐2 serum level could be a potential marker for monitoring the oral lichen to identify possible malignant transformation.