Associations between Helicobacter pylori and oral lichen planus: systematic review & meta-analysis

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Oral lichen planus (OLP) has been known as an inflammatory disease and might have an association with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. The aim of this study was to assessment the role of H. pylori in patients with OLP. METHODS: In this review study, all articles with English abstracts were searched in the Google scholar, PubMed, web of science, Cochrane library and Scopus databases up to May 2020. The searches were done using the Medical Subject Heading (MESH) terms and keywords of "oral lichen planus" or "oral lichenoid reaction" or "OLP" and "Helicobacter pylori" or "H. pylori". The heterogeneity percentage between the studies was evaluated by the Cochrane (Q) test and I2 statistic. The analyses were performed by Comprehensive Meta-analysis v.2.0 software. RESULTS: Amongst the 16 articles obtained after the abstracts reviewing, 7 proper articles fitted to our study were included in this meta-analysis. The results of this meta-analysis showed that the incidence of H. pylori in patients with OLP was 2.9 times higher than the control group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: According to the results of the studies, H. pylori increase the risk of OLP lesions. Therefore, testing for H. pylori infection in these patients before starting routine treatment is recommended.