Cardiovascular and Metabolic Risk Assessment in Patients with Lichen Planus: A Tertiary Care Hospital-based Study from Northern India

Background: The association between lichen planus (LP) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors has been demonstrated in previous reports. However, the evidence of CVD risk factors in Indian patients with LP is limited.

Objective: To compare CVD risk factors in LP patients and healthy controls.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study on 122 subjects, 61 LP patients, and 61 controls who visited the outpatient clinic of the dermatology department of a tertiary care hospital. Patients with skin diseases known to be associated with CV risk, pregnant, and lactating women were excluded from the study. CVD risk factors were compared between LP cases and controls using anthropometric measures, hemodynamic and metabolic parameters, and inflammatory marker (ESR).

Results: The proportion of metabolic syndrome (MS) was significantly higher in LP patients than the controls (29.5% vs. 9.8%, odds ratio [OR] 3.83; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.40-10.50; P = 0.006). The proportion of dyslipidemia was also significantly higher in LP patients (70.5% vs. 42.6%; P = 0.002). LP patients had a high proportion of obesity (P = 0.004), hypertension (P = 0.004), impaired fasting glucose (P = 0.025), and raised ESR (P = 0.006) as compared to controls. A multivariate regression model demonstrated that dyslipidemia and obesity were significantly associated with LP even after controlling for confounders such as age, gender, sedentarism, dietary habits, alcohol, and impaired fasting glucose. There was no significant association between the extent of LP and the proportion of MS or dyslipidemia.

Conclusion: The present study found a significant association of LP with individual CVD risk factors as well as MS.

Keywords: Cardiovascular risk factors; Lichen planus; dyslipidemia; inflammation; metabolic syndrome; obesity.