Evaluation of oxidative stress in oral lichen planus using malonaldehyde: A systematic review

Background: Oral lichen planus is a chronic, mucocutaneous, inflammatory disease, with an unknown aetiology. Reactive Oxygen Species and oxidative damage to the tissues might be the cause. Malonaldehyde, a low molecular weight end product of lipid peroxidation reaction is a suitable biomarker of endogenous DNA damage. Aims: To analyse the existing literature on the “evaluation of oxidative stress in oral lichen planus using malonaldehyde as a biomarker”. Methods: Electronic search of scientific papers was carried out in Pubmed (MeSH), Science direct and Cochrane databases using specific keywords. Eight articles were finally selected that formed the base for this review. Results: The findings from the present review demonstrate that oxidative stress and consequently, elevated levels of malonaldehyde compared to controls, plays a role in the pathophysiology of oral lichen planus. In the eight relevant studies, estimation of the malonaldehyde in serum, saliva and tissue samples was done and its levels were found to be significantly higher than controls. Conclusion: This review reveals only 8 studies that demonstrate the elevated oxidative stress levels in oral lichen planus using malonaldehyde as a biomarker. Therefore, further studies need to be performed which would estimate the levels of MDA in serum, saliva and tissue samples of the same group of patients with oral lichen planus, so as to draw definitive conclusions and significant correlation between the MDA levels from the three samples.