Abstract: Objective To examine the expression of nuclear factorkappa B(NFκB),tumor necrosis factoralpha(TNFα) and interleukin1β（IL1β）in oral lichen planus(OLP) and to investigate the roles of these three cytokines in the development of OLP.Methods Immunohistochemical technique with SP method was used to detect the expression of NFκB、TNFα and IL1β in 35 OLP cases and 10 normal oral mucosa specimens.Furthermore,their correlation and their respective relationship with clinical features of OLP were analyzed.Results NFκB positive staining was mainly found in cytoplasm and nucleu of cells,and it mainly expressed in spinous and basal epithelial keratinocytes and in lamina propria of filtrated lymphocytes.TNFα positive and IL1β positive stainings were mainly detected in cytoplasm and they mainly expressed in the spinous and basal keratinocytes and in filtrated lymphocytes.Expression of NFκB and TNFα、IL1β might be related to clinical classification,but it had not close relationship with lesion sites,genders and ages.Conclusions High expression of NFκB and TNFα,IL1β and the positive correlation of NFκB and the other two in OLP suggest that NFκB signal transduction loop activation has close relationship with overexpression of TNFα and IL1β in the pathogenesy of OLP.