HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Sitaru, C. Articles by Zillikens, D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Sitaru, C. Articles by Zillikens, D. Related Collections Immunology

Immunoblotting and Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for the Diagnosis of Pemphigoid Gestationis

Cassian Sitaru, MD^*, Jenny Powell, MD, Gerald Messer, MD, Eva-Bettina Bröcker, MD^*, Fenella Wojnarowska, MD and Detlef Zillikens, MD^*

From the *Department of Dermatology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany; Department of Dermatology, Oxford Radcliffe Hospital, United Kingdom; and Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Ludwig–Maximilians University of Munich, Germany.

Address reprint requests to: Detlef Zillikens, MD, Department of Dermatology, University of Würzburg, Josef-Schneider-Str. 2, 97080 Würzburg, Germany; e-mail: Zillikens_D{at}klinik.uni-wuerzburg.de.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the sensitivity of immunoblotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect autoantibodies to bullous pemphigoid antigen 180 in patients with pemphigoid gestationis and to correlate autoantibody serum levels with disease activity.

METHODS: In serum samples obtained from 44 pregnant patients before initiation of therapy and from the same number of healthy blood donors, the autoantibody reactivity was assayed by immunofluorescence microscopy on human skin sections as well as Western blot analysis and 2 different ELISAs by using recombinant forms of the immunodominant domain of BP180. In addition, ELISA reactivity with this autoantigen was assayed in 6 patients during the course of the disease, and its correlation with the clinical disease activity was estimated by applying the Spearman rank correlation test.

RESULTS: By indirect immunofluorescence microscopy, complement-fixing autoantibodies to the dermal-epidermal junction were found in 93% of patients’ sera. By immunoblotting and ELISA, autoantibodies to bullous pemphigoid antigen 180 were detected in 93% and 86.3% of pemphigoid gestationis patients, respectively, but in none of the healthy controls. Serum levels of autoantibodies as detected by ELISA paralleled the patients’ disease activity.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that immunoblotting and ELISA are sensitive tools for the detection of autoantibodies to bullous pemphigoid antigen 180 in patients with pemphigoid gestationis. In addition, the ELISA is useful to monitor autoantibody serum levels.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II-2

This article has been cited by other articles:

				Y. Aoyama, K. Asai, K. Hioki, M. Funato, N. Kondo, and Y. Kitajima Herpes Gestationis in a Mother and Newborn: Immunoclinical Perspectives Based on a Weekly Follow-up of the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Index of a Bullous Pemphigoid Antigen Noncollagenous Domain Arch Dermatol, September 1, 2007; 143(9): 1168 - 1172. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. M. Powell, Y. Sakuma-Oyama, N. Oyama, S. Albert, B. Bhogal, F. Kaneko, T. Nishikawa, and M. M. Black Usefulness of BP180 NC16a Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay in the Serodiagnosis of Pemphigoid Gestationis and in Differentiating Between Pemphigoid Gestationis and Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy Arch Dermatol, June 1, 2005; 141(6): 705 - 710. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W. A. High, M. P. Hoang, and M. D. Miller Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy With Unusual and Extensive Palmoplantar Involvement Obstet. Gynecol., May 1, 2005; 105(5): 1261 - 1264. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]