Objectives: The aim of the present article is to evaluate the role of angiogenesis in reticular and erosive oral lichen planus and dysplastic changes of these lesions via the immunohistochemical evaluation of VEGF and CD34 markers. Methods: 40 fixed formalin parfin embedded (FFPE) samples of oral lichen planus were selected and 7 samples of normal tissues were chosen as control samples. The samples were stained by IHC markers including CD34 and VEGF. After IHC staining Mean Vascular Density (MVD) was estimated by the count of endothelial cells. Results: All samples of the study were positive for CD34 and VEGF markers. The range of MVD in control samples were less than lichen planus samples and the maximum values of MVD for CD34 and VEGF markers were seen in atrophic lichen planus with mild dysplasia and atrophic lichen planus without dysplasia respectively. There was a significant difference in lichen planus samples compared to control samples for both CD34 and VEGF markers. For the expression of CD34 marker there was significant difference between the control samples and patients with mild Atrophic dysplasia and Atrophic with no dysplasia. For VEGF marker the significant difference was seen between control samples and samples of atrophic lichen planus with no dysplasia. Conclusion: Results of our study proposed that increased vascular density in oral lichen planus could be the result of the angiogenesis phenomenon and mediators of angiogenesis are potential markers for the progression of lesion toward dysplastic changes.
