Aim Oral lichen planush （OLP） is a chronic inflammatory disease, and has been reported to have a correlation with hepatitis Cvirus （HCV） infection in some regional investigations. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of HCV in patients with oral lichen planus in an ethnic Chinese cohort. Methodology The antibody of HCV infection was detected by using enzymelinked immunosorbent assay. Moreover, the clinical characteristics of whole the cohort have also been studied, such as the gender, age, clinical type, habits and social factors. Results Of all 232 patients, the antibody of HCV infection was detected positive in 4 patients （1.72%） using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. It was lower than that in control group of 2.5%, but not significant （P=0.309）. The positive rate of HCV antibody in the erosive type ones （4.2%） was higher than that in the reticular type ones （1.0%）, but this difference was proved to be not significant （P=0.389）. The clinical characteristics of whole cohort, such as the gender, age, clinical type, habits and social factors, showed the outcome obtained in the present study were similar to thao of our previous study. Conclusion HCV may play no etiological role in oral lichen planus in ethnic Chinese OLP patients.
HMBOX1 is a new member of the homeobox family.Homeobox members have been reported to participate in embryonic development and systemic metabolism,but the function of HMBOX1 remains unclear,especially in the hematopoietic system.Here,we show that HMBOX1is expressed at a high level in primary humanNKcells but is expressed at much lower levels inNKcell lines.Overexpression of HMBOX1 significantly inhibited NK cell activities,including natural cytotoxicity against tumor cells,the level of CD107a(a marker protein for degranulation)and the production of cytolytic proteins(perforin and granzymes).More interestingly,HMBOX1 negatively regulated the expression of NKG2D and the activation of the NKG2D/DAP10 signaling pathway in NK cells.This effect was reversed by knocking down HMBOX1.Taken together,these findings demonstrate that HMBOX1 may act as a negative regulator of NK cell functions via suppressing the NKG2D/DAP10 signaling pathway.
