Alteration of salivary glycopatterns in oral lichen planus

Background: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is one of the most common oral mucosal lesions affecting 0.5-2% of the adult population. It is difficult to distinguish between OLP and other oral mucosal diseases. Structural changes in the glycans of saliva proteins might be reliable indicators of OLP. However, little is known about the alteration of salivary glycopatterns during OLP.Objective: We aimed to investigate the alterations of salivary protein glycosylation related to OLP.Material and methods: Twenty-eight patients with OLP and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers (HVs) were enrolled in the test group to probe the difference of salivary glycopatterns using lectin microarrays. The lectin blotting were further utilized to validate the expression of certain glycans.Results: The glycoproteins recognized by three lectins [Aleuria aurantia lectin (AAL); Phytolacca americana (PWM); Phaseolus vulgaris agglutinin (E+L), (PHA-E+L)] were mainly increasing in the saliva of OLP. Meanwhile, these glycoproteins also exhibited significant age-associated alterations.Conclusions: This study provided a new basic insight into salivary glycopatterns in OLP and helped to develop new potential biomarkers for diagnosis of OLP.