This finding is supported by previous studies, where significantly increased serum IL-6 levels were noted in OLP (P<0.05) (6,24); where raised serum IL-6 levels were reported by Sun et al. (6) in only 15% of the EOLP cases (mean 3.4±3.2 pg/ml) and by Yamamoto et al. (24) in 50% of EOLP cases with IL-6 levels above 40 pg/ml in some cases. The gene discussed is IL6; the disease is oral lichen planus.