Contact Dermatitis Clinic Oral Mucosal Clinic, Skin and Cancer Foundation, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia.
Australas J Dermatol. 2012 Aug;53(3):224-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-0960.2012.00908.x. Epub 2012 Jun 12.
Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory disorder with significant morbidity, associated with symptoms of pain and local discomfort. The concept of contact allergy aggravating or inducing OLP is recognised, and reported allergens include amalgam, metals used in dental restoration and flavourings. To date there has been only one case report of a contact allergy to spearmint oil in a patient with a 3-year history of OLP. We retrospectively reviewed our positive spearmint oil patch test data at the Skin and Cancer Foundation Victoria over a period of 11 years. In total 73 patients of the 1467 tested for allergy to spearmint oil had positive patch tests. The total number of patches tested during this time was 6134. Of the 73 positive reactions, 19 (26%) were classified as relevant, in that the patients had a history of using spearmint oil-containing products. Coexisting OLP and a spearmint allergy were found in 14 of these 19 patients. All patients had erosive OLP and were female. Patients, especially women, with OLP recalcitrant to treatment should be patch tested to flavourings, especially spearmint oil. We believe that spearmint allergy should be considered a cause of OLP, or at least, of oral lichenoid reactions.
口腔扁平苔藓（OLP）是一种具有显著发病率的慢性炎症性疾病，与疼痛和局部不适等症状有关。接触过敏会加重或诱发 OLP 的概念已得到认可，报告的过敏原包括汞合金、用于牙科修复的金属和香料。迄今为止，仅有一例关于薄荷油接触过敏的病例报告，涉及一名患有 3 年 OLP 病史的患者。我们对维多利亚州皮肤和癌症基金会过去 11 年来薄荷油斑贴试验阳性数据进行了回顾性分析。在接受薄荷油过敏测试的 1467 名患者中，共有 73 名患者的斑贴试验呈阳性。在此期间，共进行了 6134 次斑贴试验。在这 73 个阳性反应中，有 19 个（26%）被归类为相关，即患者有使用含薄荷油产品的病史。在这 19 名患者中，有 14 名患者同时患有复发性 OLP 和薄荷过敏。所有患者均患有糜烂性 OLP，且均为女性。对于治疗反应不佳的 OLP 患者，尤其是女性患者，应进行斑贴试验以检测香料，尤其是薄荷油。我们认为薄荷过敏可能是 OLP 的病因之一，或者至少是口腔扁平苔藓样反应的病因之一。
