Evaluation of the efficacy of vitamin D in the treatment of oral lichen planus: A double-blind randomized clinical trial

Background and aim: oral lichen planus (olp) is a chronic inflammatory and immune-mediated disease without a known etiology. recent studies have indicated the role of vitamin d on immune system and proposed its anti-inflammatory effects. present study aimed to evaluate the effect of vitamin d on the severity of pain, burning, and lesions of patients with olp and serum levels of interleukin 6 (il-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (tnf-α) after the intervention.methods: 28 patients with olp with vitamin d deficiency or insufficiency participated in this randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. they were divided into the two groups of intervention (n = 13) and control (n = 15). serum levels of tnf-α, vitamin d, and il-6 were assessed before and 8 weeks after the treatment. the intervention and control groups were given one capsule of 50000 units of vitamin d and one placebo capsule weekly for 8 weeks, and they were also examined every other week, in terms of the severity of lesions (thongprasom index) and the severity of pain and burning [visual analog scale (vas)]. the data analysis was carried out using spss statistical software and statistical tests included independent t-test, chi-square test, mann-whitney u-test, repeated measures test, and pearson correlation coefficient test. data were analyzed using spss software. the p-value < 0.05 was considered as significant.results: the severity of lesions was significantly reduced in the intervention group (p = 0.043). after the treatment, the mean il-6 levels significantly decreased in the intervention and control groups compared to pre-treatment conditions (p = 0.005 and p = 0.014, respectively). moreover, the mean tnf-α concentrations significantly decreased only in the intervention group (p < 0.001).conclusion: vitamin d reduced the severity of olp lesions, il-6, and tnf-α. vitamin d can be suggested as adjuvant therapy for patients with olp; however, further studies are required to confirm these effects.