Human Saliva Metabolome for Oral Lichen Planus Biomarker Identification

Background: Oral Lichen Planus (OLP) is one of the most common oral mucosal diseases. However, the current diagnostic method for OLP has limitations, and sometimes it is easy to be misdiagnosed. Salivary metabolomics may provide new ideas for the diagnosis of OLP. Objective: To identify the biomarkers for the early detection of OLP. Methods: A non-targeted metabolomic analysis method was established based on UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS (Ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole/orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometry) to analyze the differential metabolites in saliva samples of patients with OLP and healthy subjects. Saliva samples were collected from 120 OLP patients and 125 healthy subjects. Results: A total of 19 differential metabolites were identified, including 6 amino acid metabolites, 2 carnitines, 2 lipid metabolites and 9 other metabolites. The integrated biomarkers were constructed by 3 metabolites according to Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC). Meanwhile, multiple metabolic pathways were found to be involved in the occurrence and development of OLP. Conclusion: Metabolomics can be used to characterize the characteristics of metabolic disorders in patients with OLP, which is also helpful to the early diagnosis of OLP and reveal the pathological process of OLP.