Prevalence of Hepatitis C virus infection in patients with oral lichen planus in Guntur, Andhrapradesh

Abstract

Background:

The association between oral lichen planus (OLP) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a matter of controversy. It is heavily influenced by geographical location. It is important to determine the association so that guidelines can be made for HCV testing in patients with OLP.

Aims:

This study was conducted to determine the possible association between oral lichen planus (OLP) and hepatitis C virus infection (HCV) in Guntur, Andhrapradesh population.

Materials and Methods:

Blood samples were taken from 50 OLP patients and 50 healthy controls to screen for HCV infection. Moreover, the clinical characteristics of OLP were also observed, such as gender, age, chief complaint, clinical type and the sites involved.

Results:

In the present study, 50 patients with OLP (30 females and 20 males) with mean age of 42.52 ± 13.04 years, and 50 healthy subjects (30 females and 20 males) with mean age of 40.42 ± 12.38 years were evaluated.HCV antibodies  were detected in none of the subjects

Conclusion:

We could not detect any association between OLP and HCV. This may be due to lower occurrence of hepatitis C virus in comparison to hyper endemic countries for this virus or genotypic discrepancy of the virus or other factors contributing for these patients.