Evaluation of the serum levels of galectin-3 in patients with oral lichen planus disease

Objectives Galectin-3, a member of beta-galactoside-binding proteins, can be found in cytoplasm and nucleus as well as extracellularly in various tissues and involved in many physiological and pathological processes. We aimed to measure the serum levels of galectin-3 in oral lichen planus (OLP) disease and compare the result with that observed in healthy ones. Materials and Methods In this cross-sectional study, the serum levels of galectin-3 were measured in 56 healthy individuals and 53 pathologically proven OLP patients including those with atrophic/erosive (33 cases) or reticular (20 cases) lesions, using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results Compared with healthy individuals (1.1 +/- 0.4 ng/ml), galectin-3 serum levels in patients with OLP (3.1 +/- 1.1 ng/ml) were significantly elevated (p < 0.0001). Serum galectin-3 levels were elevated significantly in patients with atrophic/erosive lesions compared to those of reticular (3.9 +/- 2.1 ng/ml vs. 1.9 +/- 1.4 ng/ml, p = 0.001), but it has not associated with age and gender. Conclusions The elevation of galectin-3 in OLP is a future tool to increase the knowledge about the possible etiology of the disease and may be helpful to differentiate atrophic/erosive lesions from reticular ones. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study evaluated the serum galectin-3 levels in OLP.