The Effect of zinc supplementation as an adjuvant to corticosteroid treatment in patients with oral lichen planus: A Systematic review

Abstract

Background: Zinc, as an antioxidant, can stabilize cell membranes. Zinc deficiency has a critical role in the pathogenesis of oral mucosal diseases. The purpose of the current study was to systematically review the effect of zinc in addition to topical corticosteroid in the treatment of oral lichen planus (OLP). Methods: In the current systematic review. English published article in PubMed, Web of Sciences, Embase, and Scopus until August 2022 were searched. The differences in symptoms, including pain, burning sensation, and size of the lesion in lichen planus patients who received zinc supplementation as an adjuvant to corticosteroid treatment, were analyzed. Results: Initially, 148 articles related to the searched keywords were found. Eventually, two clinical trials were selected. The total population of studied individuals included 60 patients. Due to the high heterogeneity between the studies, meta-analysis was not possible, and the result of each study was reported separately. Administering zinc, in addition to corticosteroids, did not improve the symptoms compared with corticosteroid monotherapy. The results were inconclusive regarding the effect of added zinc in reduction of the lesion size. Conclusion: Considering the low number of studies and lack of enough evidence, it is not currently possible to express a definite result regarding the effects of zinc in the treatment of oral lichen planus. More clinical trials in this field with higher sample sizes are required.