RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic relapsing inflammatory disease involving T-lymphocyte aggression targeted to the basal layer of the oral mucosa. The tumor suppressor tumor protein p53 (TP53), located on chromosome 17, has been involved in various malignancies. OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to investigate the association of p53 codon 72 polymorphism with OLP in Southern Iranian patients. METHODS: Twenty-five patients with lichen planus and 93 healthy blood donors as control group were recruited. DNA from peripheral blood mononuclear cells was extracted and amplified using allele-specific polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: The frequency of homozygotic arginine (Arg) at codon 72 was 44% in the patients and 37.6% in the controls; for homozygotic proline (Pro), it was 24% and 15.15%, respectively, and for heterozygotic arginine/proline, it was 32% and 47.3%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The polymorphism in codon 72 of the TP53 gene was not associated with the OLP in Iranian patients.