A case–control study to detect the extent of DNA damage in oral lichen planus and oral lichenoid reactions using comet assay

AIM: This study aims to quantify the extent of DNA damage in lymphocytes of patients with oral lichen planus (OLP) and oral lichenoid reactions (OLRs) using comet assay. METHODOLOGY: Lymphocytes from peripheral blood were subjected to alkaline comet assay. Comet length (CL), head diameter (HD), percentage of DNA in head, tail length (TL), percentage of DNA in tail, tail intensity, tail mean and tail moment were compared between study group (OLP and OLR) and control group using Student's t-test. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to examine the linear association between the variables. RESULTS: Significantly higher levels of DNA damage was present in study group as reflected by CL, HD and TL, tail intensity and tail moment with P = 0.0001; percentage of DNA in head and tail with P = 0.02 and tail mean with P = 0.012. CONCLUSION: This study brings out the fact that DNA damage measured by comet assay was greater in the study group when compared to the control group. As a reflection of uniqueness, this study crowns the scenario with respect to early detection and prevention of potentially malignant disorders and the process of malignant transformation.