INTRODUCTION Pemphigus vulgaris is a relatively rare, chronic, autoimmune vesiculobullous disorder characterized by formation of intraepithelial vesiculae and/or bullae in the skin and mucous membrane. Systemic steroids are considered to be the standard first-line therapy for pemphigus vulgaris. However, for patients unresponsive to standard therapy, the new treatment modalities are being sough...

Bullous Pemphigus and Pemphigus Vulgaris are autoimmune dermatological illnesses that manifest particularly in adults. They are characterized by the presence of auto-antibodies against specific structures of the skin and mucous membranes marked by the appearance of epithelial beads. While Bullous Pemphigus is of limited duration and is generally benign, in contrast Pemphigus Vulgaris is an illn...

Pemphigus is a group of autoimmune blistering diseases. There had been abundant evidence that antibodies against components within the desmosomes were responsible for its pathogenesis. The major antigens in pemphigus vulgaris and pemphigus foliaceus are desmoglein 3 (130 kDa) and desmoglein 1 (160 kDa) respectively. They are glycoproteins belonging to the cadherin family and form part of the tr...

BACKGROUND Endemic pemphigus foliaceus (EPF) is the only known autoimmune disease presenting in circumscribed geographic areas. AIM We aim to provide information concerning the natural course of EPF, including systemic compromise in the presteroid era, which has been largely unavailable in the current medical literature. MATERIAL #ENTITYSTARTX00026; METHODS By a retrospective review of the...

BACKGROUND Pemphigusis a bullous, rare and chronic autoimmune disease. There are two major forms of pemphigus: vulgaris and foliaceus. Epidemiological data and clinical outcome in patients diagnosed in the Brazilian Amazon states are still rare. OBJECTIVES To study the occurrence of the disease during the study period and analyze the epidemiological profile of patients, the most common subtyp...

Pemphigus is a severe, autoimmune, blistering disorder with a high incidence among young women in rural Tunisia. The authors investigated explanatory environmental factors. A multicenter case-control study was conducted prospectively from 1992 to 1996 in Tunisia. Sixty-eight incident female cases of pemphigus and 166 controls matched on age, hospital, and geographic area were included. Data col...

Pemphigus is a blistering disease characterized by pemphigus autoantibodies (PVIgG) directed mostly against desmogleins (Dsgs), resulting in the loss of keratinocyte adhesion (acantholysis). Yet, the mechanisms underlying blister formation remain to be clarified. We have shown previously that anti-Fas ligand (FasL) antibody (Ab) prevents PVIgG-induced caspase-8 activation and Dsg cleavage in hu...

BACKGROUND Pemphigus is an autoimmune blistering disease. According to a report, in areas of endemic pemphigus foliaceus (EPF) in Peru there are cases of pemphigus vulgaris with epidemiologic, clinical and histopathologic characteristics similar to those of "endemic pemphigus vulgaris" (EPV) in Brazil. OBJECTIVES To determine the clinical and epidemiologic characteristics of endemic pemphigus...

Anti-desmoglein 3 and 1 autoantibodies are involved in the pathogenesis of pemphigus diseases. Our objective was to assess the value of ELISA in the diagnosis of pemphigus and its correlation with the severity of pemphigus vulgaris. Based on clinical presentation and histopathologic confirmation for the diagnosis of the pemphigus, 38 patients took part in the study. Sera of the patients were te...