Objective To screen and analyze immune-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) through bioinformatics methods, and explore their expression and significance in the epithelial tissues of oral lichen planus (OLP).

Methods The immune-related DEGs were screened from the gene expression profile database and GeneCards. The immune-related DEGs protein-protein interactions (PPI) network was constructed through the STRING database and Cytoscape software, and the hub genes were screened using the cytohubba plugin. The correlation analysis was conducted through spearman test. The functional enrichment analyses of immune-related DEGs and core genes were performed using gene oncology (GO) and kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) analyses. Finally, the core genes miRNA and TF were predicted through NetworkAnalyst.

Results A total of 337 immune-related DEGs were obtained through research and analysis, and 10 core genes were screened, all of which were significantly highly expressed in OLP (P ＜ 0.05). The results of GO analysis showed that the core genes were mainly significantly enriched in the extracellular matrix (ECM) and related signaling pathways such as Rho (P ＜ 0.05), while the KEGG analysis indicated that they were significantly enriched in the adhesion, ECM and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways (P ＜ 0.05). Simultaneously, 140 miRNAs and 65 TFs were predicted.

Conclusions Through bioinformatics analysis, 10 immune-related DEGs, namely COL6A3, LUM, COL4A1, COL1A2, COL3A1, COL5A2, LOX, THBS2, PDGFRB and CDH11, are screened out, which is helpful for further analysis of the pathogenesis of OLP, and may provide some new directions and strategies for OLP treatment.