Elastolysis in lichen ruber planus

The dermal elastic fiber network was studied in specimens from five patients with lichen ruber planus, using a standard elastin staining procedure (orcein), results being compared with those for the elastin-associated microfibrillar network stained using anti-fibrillin antibodies in an immunofluorescence and an avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex technique. Additional specimens of healed apparently normal skin were taken from two of the patients. Orcein-stained fibers were scarce or absent in the inflammatory zone in all the lesions. In contrast, an extensive fibrillin immunoreactive network was present in the papillary zone in all the specimens, in a pattern similar to that of normal skin. In specimens from healed lesions of lichen ruber planus, dermal orcein-stained fibers were present in the papillary dermis. The findings indicate that the amorphous component of elastic fibers is destroyed during the acute phase of lichen ruber planus. Hypothetically, the elastolysis is caused by elastases released from macrophages known to be present in the lichenoid infiltrate. In contrast, the fibrillin fiber network seems to be less or not at all affected by proteolytic events during the inflammatory phase of lichen ruber planus.