Oral lichen planus and diabetes mellitus: Prevalence and clinical features in a Tunisian population

Background: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory disease. It is characterized by multiple clinical presentations and periods of exacerbation and remission of symptoms of these lesions. The relationship between OLP and diabetes mellitus (DM) has been extensively studied, but with dissimilar conclusions. The main aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of DM in a tunisian population of patients with OLP. While the secondary objective was to describe features of these patients. Materials and methods: Forty-four patients suffering from OLP according to clinical and pathological criteria proposed by the World Health Organization were enrolled for this study. Screening for diabetic patients was conducted according to the DM diagnosis guidelines suggested by The American Diabetes Association (ADA-1997). Inclusion and Exclusion criteria were taken into consideration. The variables considered for each patient were: age, gender, medical history, clinical forms, location and extension of the lesions. Results: twenty-two point seventy two percent (22,72 %) of OLP patients were diabetics. No significant differences could be observed in terms of mean age and clinical forms between diabetic and non-diabetic OLP patients. The extension of lesions was significantly higher in the diabetes -associated OLP group than the non-diabetic group. Conclusion: Within the limits of this study it showed a high prevalence of DM in patients with OLP.