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 so the current study estimated salivary level of Cathelicidin LL-37 in patient suffering from potentially malignant lesions and control subjects to corroborate Cathelicidin LL-37 as a diagnostic marker for early detection of potentially malignant lesions 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. whole unstimulated salivary samples were collected from all participants to evaluate LL-37 level using enzyme linked immune-sorbent assay (ELISA) kit. Receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis was done to reveal AUC, sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of LL-37.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: LL37 appears to have a potential role in potentially malignant lesions (OLP & leukoplakia). The remarkable diagnostic accuracy of salivary LL37 in differentiating potentially malignant lesion and healthy control could confirm its utilization as an innovative marker to early diagnose potentially malignant lesions. Salivary LL37 being non-invasive accurate marker could serve as a chair-side diagnostic tool to diagnose potentially malignant lesions.