Abstract
AIM: Role of mast cells in the development of oral lichen planus (OLP) and oral lichenoid reactions (OLR). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The tissue slices used in this investigation were obtained from the archives of the Department of Oral Pathology and were formalin-fixed and embedded in paraffin. The sections were obtained from 40 cases of OLP that were identified by histological examination, as well as 40 cases of OLR. Twenty buccal mucosa samples were obtained from individuals who showed no mouth lesions and did not participate in any oral practices. The study samples were subjected to haematoxylin and eosin stain, as well as a specialized toluidine blue stain. RESULTS: In oral lichen planus, the mast cell counts were 15.25 ± 2.58, which was substantially greater than in OLR (8.63 ± 1.74) and normal oral mucosal tissues (1.99 ± 0.58). The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the average number of mast cells across three groups, and the result was statistically significant (P < 0.001). We found statistically significant results when we compared several groups using the Mann-Whitney U test. CONCLUSION: This experiment's findings point to a greater concentration of mast cells in OLP than in OLR. Because of this, we argue that counting mast cells could be an important histopathological component in pathogenesis of these lichenoid reactions and also help distinguishing OLP from OLR.