Salivary levels of Cathelicidin LL-37 in patients with oral potentially malignant lesions, A case control study

Aim : The recognition of practical early diagnostic biomarkers is a cornerstone of improved prevention and treatment of cancer thus the current study estimated salivary level of Cathelicidin LL-37 in patients suffering from potentially malignant lesions and control subjects to corroborate Cathelicidin LL-37 as a diagnostic marker for early detection of potentially malignant diseases and revealing its possible role in carcinogenesis. Methodology : 45 systemically healthy individuals were subdivided into three groups: Group I: 15 Healthy participants without any oral lesions. Group II: 15 Patients having atrophic/erosive oral lichen planus (OLP). Group III: 15 Patients having oral leukoplakia. Enzyme linked immune-sorbent assay (ELIZA) kit was used to evaluate the level of LL-37 in whole unstimulated salivary samples collected from all participants. To reveal AUC, sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of LL-37 receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis was done. Results : The highest salivary level of LL-37 was revealed in OLP patients followed by oral leukoplakia patients whereas it was the lowest in healthy controls. ROC analysis exhibited excellent diagnostic accuracy of salivary LL-37 in differentiating both OLP and leukoplakia from control and OLP from leukoplakia. Conclusions : LL-37 appears to have a potential role in potentially malignant lesions (OLP & leukoplakia). The remarkable diagnostic accuracy of salivary LL-37 in differentiating potentially malignant lesion and healthy control could confirm its utilization as an innovative marker to early diagnose potentially malignant lesions. Salivary LL-37 being non-invasive accurate marker could be a chair-side diagnostic method that detect potentially malignant lesions. Clinical relevance: Salivary Cathelicidin LL-37 being non-invasive could serve as a chair-side diagnostic technique for potentially malignant lesions.