Journal of Clinical and Investigative Dermatology

Research Article

Serum Amyloid A as an Inflammation Marker in Lichen Planus

Metwalli M1, Ibraheem AH2, Abu bakr H3 and Fathia MK1

1Department of Dermatology, Zagazig University, Egypt
2Department of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Egypt
3Department of Medicine, Zagazig University, Egypt
*Address for Correspondence: Fathia M. Khattab, Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Andrology,Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Egypt, Tel: 00201111108729; Email: fathiakhattab@ yahoo.com
Submission: 22 June, 2021 Accepted: 20 July, 2021 Published: 24 July, 2021
Copyright: © 2021 Metwalli M, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Background: Lichen planus (LP) is a chronic T cell-mediated inflammatory disorder that can affect skin, mucosa, hair, and nails. Serum amyloid A (SAA) is a conserved acute phase protein in response to trauma, infection, malignancy, and severe stress. SAA may have homeostatic role rather than a pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory one. Serum levels of SAA were demonstrated to be raised in several inflammatory systemic and skin diseases as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and psoriasis.
Aim: This study aimed to evaluate serum levels of SAA, and IL 6 in a sample of Egyptian LP patients and to estimate its correlation with disease severity.
Patients and methods: We included 21 adult patients with LP and 21 healthy adults as control. The total score of LP severity was measured for all patients through measurement of the affected body surface area in cutaneous LP patients while using a semi-quantitative clinical scoring system for oral LP together with the visual analog scale for pain assessment in OLP. Serum levels of SAA were estimated in all participants using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results: The expression levels of SAA and IL 6 in peripheral blood of patients in the two groups were detected. Pearson analysis was used in the correlation between SAA and IL 6 and Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was employd to analyze the predictive value of SAA and IL 6 for LP severity. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the risk factors of LP patients. The expression levels of SAA and IL 6 of patients in sever form were significantly higher than those in mild form (P<0.05). Pearson analysis showed that SAA was positively correlated with IL 6 expression (P<0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that AUC predicted by SAA and IL 6 for LP severity was 0.789 and 0.762 (P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that SAA and IL 6 were prediction indexes of LP severity.
Conclusion: The levels of SAA and IL 6 were significantly increased during LP and effectively predicted the severity of LP and is a risk factor affecting LP patients. Further studies are needed to establish this association then it might be used for the evaluation of therapeutic outcomes.