The levels and clinical significance of serum CCL19 and sCTLA4 in patients with oral lichen planus

To evaluate the relationship between C-C chemokine ligand 19 (CCL19), soluble cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated antigen 4 (sCTLA4) and disease status and therapeutic efficacy in patients with oral lichen planus (OLP). From January 2023 to January 2025, 129 patients with OLP admitted to our hospital were enrolled as the OLP group and were assigned to a non erosive subgroup of 72 cases, an erosive subgroup of 57 cases, as well as a healing group of 103 cases, and a non-healing group of 26 cases. Meanwhile, 116 healthy participants were included as the control group. The ELISA method was used to detect serum CCL19 and sCTLA4 in both groups. Pearson correlation analysis was used to explore correlation. Relative risk analysis was used to evaluate the impact of indicators on therapeutic efficacy. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the influencing factors associated with poor therapeutic response in patients with OLP. In addition, ROC curves were used to analyze the predictive value. Compared with the control group, the OLP group had significantly higher serum CCL19, sCTLA4, Th17 ratio, and Th17/Treg, and a significantly lower Treg ratio (P < 0.05). Serum CCL19 and sCTLA4 in OLP patients were positively correlated with Th17 ratio and Th17/Treg, and negatively correlated with Treg ratio (P < 0.05). Compared with the non-erosive group, the erosive group showed significantly higher serum CCL19, sCTLA4, Th17 ratio, and Th17/Treg ratio, and a significantly lower Treg ratio (P < 0.05). Compared with the healing group, the non-healing group showed significantly higher serum CCL19, sCTLA4, Th17 ratio, and Th17/Treg ratio, and a significantly lower Treg ratio (P < 0.05). The risk of poor therapeutic efficacy in patients with high levels of serum CCL19 and sCTLA4 was 1.417-fold and 1.332-fold higher, respectively than that in patients with low levels (P < 0.05). Elevated levels of CCL19 and sCTLA-4 were identified as risk factors for poor therapeutic response in patients with OLP (P < 0.05).The AUC values of CCL19 alone, sCTLA4 alone, and their combination for predicting poor therapeutic efficacy in OLP patients were 0.832, 0.834, and 0.950, respectively, with the combined AUC being significantly higher than the individual AUCs (Z = 2.104, 2.167, P < 0.05). Serum CCL19 and sCTLA4 are closely associated with disease severity and therapeutic efficacy in patients with OLP, and their combination demonstrated high predictive value for poor therapeutic efficacy.