British Association of Dermatologists’ guidelines for the management of bullous pemphigoid 2012 V.A. Venning, K. Taghipour, M.F. Mohd Mustapa, A.S. Highet and G. Kirtschig Department of Dermatology, Churchill Hospital, Old Road, Headington, Oxford OX3 7LJ, U.K. Department of Dermatology, Whittington Hospital, Magdala Avenue, London N19 5NF, U.K. British Association of Dermatologists, Willan Hou...

BACKGROUND Blister formation and tissue damage in bullous pemphigoid have been attributed to the release of eosinophil granule proteins--namely, to eosinophil derived cationic protein (ECP) and major basic protein (MBP). In the present investigation these eosinophil granule proteins were studied in the conjunctiva of patients with ocular cicatricial pemphigoid (OCP). METHODS Conjunctival biop...

Epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA) is an acquired, autoimmune blistering disorder caused by autoantibody production against type VII collagen. The aim of this study was to examine the clinical types, treatments, and outcomes of 30 patients with EBA. In our cohort, the median age of onset was 44.0 years, with a similar incidence for both genders (46.7% male, 53.3% female). The majority of pat...

Subepidermal blistering associated with the human skin diseases bullous pemphigoid and herpes gestationis has been thought to be an IgG autoantibody-mediated process; however, previous attempts to demonstrate the pathogenicity of patient autoantibodies have been unsuccessful. An immunodominant and potentially pathogenic epitope associated with these blistering diseases has recently been mapped ...

INTRODUCTION Bullous skin diseases, which include, among others pemphigoid, pemphigus, and dermatitis herpetiformis are classified as severe autoimmune dermatoses. It has been shown that a pattern of xenobiotic metabolism may play a role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. AIM To estimate whether the CYP2D6 genotype may be considered a predisposing factor in autoimmune bullous disease...

BACKGROUND Urticarial dermatitis may represent a useful term for a subset of a reaction pattern designated most commonly as dermal hypersensitivity by pathologists. The term is not commonly used, and requires definition to determine whether it is clinically relevant. OBJECTIVES To define urticarial dermatitis and distinguish it from other urticarial reaction patterns and to review the frequen...

AIMS To report circulating and mucosa-deposited anti-basement membrane zone autoantibodies in a series of six ectodermal dysplasia patients with severe bilateral cicatrising conjunctivitis and blindness due to both corneal disease and intractable surface inflammation. We also report clinical improvement with steroid-sparing systemic immunosuppression combined with clearance of bacterial colonis...

In this report,we present 15 patients with histological and immunopathologically proven pemphigus vulgaris (PV). After a mean of 80 months since the onset of disease, when evaluated serologically, they had antibodies typical of PV and pemphigoid (Pg). Similarly, 18 patients with bullous pemphigoid (BP) and mucous membrane pemphigoid (MMP) were diagnosed on the basis of histology and immunopatho...

Mucous membrane pemphigoid (MMP) is a heterogeneous group of autoimmune subepithelial blistering diseases affecting primarily mucous membranes showing marked degree of clinical and immunological variability. We investigated four controversial topics: (i) Does oral pemphigoid (OP) really exist as a separate entity? (ii) Is mucous membrane pemphigoid curable? (iii) What is the best therapeutic op...