Abstract

Ghalaut V.S., Sarkar M.*, Dayal S. and Samanta S.

ABSTRACT

Objective: Lichen planus (LP) is an autoimmune chronic inflammatory disease involving the skin and mucous membranes. Various cytokines are involved in etiopathogenesis of LP similar to psoriasis. Prolactin (PRL), a peptide hormone secreted from pituitary, has a key role in autoimmune related diseases like lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid artharitis and psoriasis. Prolactin may be a good biomarker of severity of disease with similar autoimmune inflammatory etiopathogenesis. So we performed the current study to evaluate serum level of prolactin in LP patients and to study any correlation of prolactin level with duration of illness. Material and Methods: We conducted the prospective case control study from July 2014 to June 2015 on 30 newly diagnosed patients of LP and 30 age and sex match healthy control subjects. We measured serum prolactin level by chemiluminesence technique. Results: Serum PRL level in total 60 subjects, 30 patients of LP and 30 age and sex matched healthy volunteers were analysed in this study. PRL level was found to be significantly higher in LP patients as compared to healthy volunteers (p <0.05). In mucocutaneous form of LP, PRL was found to be significantly higher compared to other forms, such as cutaneous and oral LP (p<0.05). Serum PRL had a positive correlation with duration of illness of LP (r value=0.310, p = 0.09). Conclusion: Hyperprolactinemia is associated with Lichen Planus. Prolactin may play a role in the pathogenesis of lichen planus. It may be a biological marker of disease activity in patients with lichen planus. Further large scale studies are needed to prove our findings.