Bullous pemphigoid associated with chronic renal allograft rejection: Resolution after transplantectomy

Pemphigoid diseases in patients with end-stage kidney diseases: pathogenesis and treatment

Background

Pemphigoid diseases constitute a group of autoimmune blistering disorders characterized by subepithelial blistering. The association between pemphigoid diseases and both end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) and its treatment is notable. However, there is limited evidence about the management of pemphigoid diseases in patients with ESKD. This systematic review compiled case reports and relevant studies, summarized the underlying mechanisms of pemphigoid diseases in patients with ESKD, and summarized the efficacy of various therapies.

Methods

A systematic search of PubMed and Embase was performed for articles published between 1982 to June 2, 2024.

Results

Fifty-three case reports and eight relevant studies were included. Triggers for pemphigoids in patients with ESKD included materials used to treat ESKD, immune dysregulation of patients with ESKD, and rejection of renal allograft. Treatment for these patients included removing triggers, as well as administering of corticosteroids, mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), tetracyclines, rituximab, methotrexate, dapsone, azathioprine, cyclosporine, intravenous immunoglobin (IVIG), plasmapheresis, and Janus kinase inhibitors.

Conclusion

Removing triggers is the most effective strategy. Despite their suboptimal efficacy, corticosteroids remain the most commonly used agents in this patient population. MMF, tetracyclines, and rituximab are less used but with benefits. There are significant adverse effects associated with methotrexate treatment. Other treatment may also be beneficial and require further investigation. These findings may enable clinicians to optimize the therapeutic approach for these patients.

The relationship between bullous pemphigoid and renal disease and related treatments: a review of the current literature

INTRODUCTION

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is the most common autoimmune subepidermal blistering disorder in older adults. There is increasing evidence that BP has connections with renal diseases, such as glomerulopathy and neoplasm; it is also linked to the receipt of renal replacement therapy.

AREAS COVERED

In this review, we summarize the current evidence that BP is a comorbidity of common renal diseases. Furthermore, our exploration of the characteristics and possible mechanisms underlying these connections provides insights that may facilitate the prevention, diagnosis, and management of BP.

EXPERT OPINION

There is mounting proof that BP is not just a skin immunological disorder but rather a systemic immune-mediated illness. Quantities of case reports focused on BP as a renal disease comorbidity and the coexistence of them is not accidental. However, the underlying mechanisms are still needed to be investigated. Clinicians should be alert to the comorbidities in order to facilitate effective treatment and improve patient prognosis.

[A rare presentation of kidney allograft intolerance syndrome: Bullous pemphigoid]

Bullous pemphigoid is an autoimmune bullous cutaneous disease. We report the case of a 60 year-old male patient whose kidney allograft failed and was on hemodialysis for the previous 16 months. After tapering immunosuppressive medication, he presented simultaneous bullous eruption and kidney allograft intolerance syndrome. Investigation showed a positive BP180 anti-basement membrane zone antibody and skin biopsy was consistent with bullous pemphigoid. The patient was treated with corticotherapy and bullous pemphigoid resolved. The development of new onset diabetes and concerns over long term immunosuppression, halted the decision to continue corticotherapy and the patient underwent graft nephrectomy, with resolution of the kidney allograft intolerance syndrome without recurrence of the bullous disease. The occurrence of bullous pemphigoid in patients with failed renal allograft is rare, with only eleven cases reported in literature. This case illustrates how graft nephrectomy can provide a definitive cure to bullous pemphigoid in this setting.

Development of bullous pemphigoid during the haemodialysis of a young man: case report and literature survey

Haemodialysis is the most frequent form of renal replacement therapy (RRT) in patients with end-stage renal disorder (ESRD). Patients with ESRD frequently develop skin problems, mainly xerosis, pruritus and hyperpigmentation, as well as bullous diseases, mainly porphyria or pseudoporphyria and, in some cases, bullous pemphigoid (BP). BP is the most common autoimmune sub-epidermal blistering disease, and it predominantly affects elderly people. Clinically, BP is characterised by generalised pruritic, bullous eruptions and urticaria-like lesions. Usually, BP is an idiopathic disorder; however, in some cases, underlying internal disorders are present, like diabetes or neurological disorders. Herein, we present a 33-year-old man with ESRD, maintained on haemodialysis, who developed BP. There are only six cases with BP provoked by the placement of a fistula for haemodialysis. BP in the current patient was confirmed by direct immunofluorescence (DIF) and indirect immunofluorescence using BIOCHIP. The patient responded promptly to tertracycline and 0·05% clobetasol propionate lesionally. However, the relationship between BP and the fistula for haemodialisys still remains unknown. It is highly likely that the skin injury associated with fistula placement was responsible for the alteration of the basement membrane zone (BMZ) and the stimulation of the immune system, leading to BP development. To explain the real role of fistula placement as a provocative factor in BP, other such cases are required for assessment.

Bullous Pemphigoid With a Dual Pattern of Glomerular Immune Complex Disease

A 75-year-old man presented with a blistering skin disease and nephrotic syndrome. Bullous pemphigoid was diagnosed by linear immunoglobulin G (IgG) and C3 staining along the basement membrane zone of a skin biopsy specimen and by the presence of circulating IgG recognizing the 180-kDa bullous pemphigoid antigen (BP180; type XVII collagen). A kidney biopsy specimen showed endocapillary inflammation without crescents. Direct immunofluorescence showed strong IgG and C3 staining in a combined granular and linear pattern along the glomerular basement membrane. Electron microscopy showed subepithelial deposits. In serum, no antibodies against the Goodpasture antigen (type IV collagen) or phospholipase A2 receptor were detected. Indirect immunofluorescence studies using the patient's serum showed a strikingly linear but not granular IgG pattern along the epithelial basement membranes of monkey esophagus and kidney. Although type XVII collagen was recently identified in the glomerulus, the patient's serum did not produce a 180-kDa band on immunoblot of kidney tissue and still stained glomeruli of BP180 knockout mice by indirect immunofluorescence. The patient was treated with prednisone and azathioprine, which resulted in complete remission of skin and kidney manifestations. Although bullous pemphigoid has been reported previously in association with anti-glomerular basement membrane disease or membranous nephropathy, this case demonstrates both elements in 1 patient. This concurrence and the linear pattern on indirect immunofluorescence support the possibility of cross-reactive or parallel autoantibodies to basement membranes with a secondary membranous component.

Bullous pemphigoid induced by m-TOR inhibitors in renal transplant recipients

BACKGROUND

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is an acquired autoimmune disease, with typical histology and immune pathological findings, which might be associated with drug therapy. The list of responsible drugs increases every year, but a current literature revision do not include the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors. By converse, bullous pemghigoid cases have been described in renal transplant recipients and associated with the allogenic graft itself, causing a cross reaction against the skin, or unbalancing the immune response, through a chronic cell-mediated suppression, non-specifically favouring the autoantibody production.

OBJECT AND RESULTS

Two cases of BP occurred, respectively, 10 days to 2 months after the addition to their current regimen of everolimus in a 35-year-old woman and sirolimus in a 65-year-old man. The graft functionality was within normal range. General corticosteroids therapy resistance, immediate improvement after drug discontinuation (dechallenge) and relapse after re-exposure (rechallenge) were striking criteria supporting a causative role of the drugs, grouped in the mTOR inhibitors class.

CONCLUSIONS

The diagnosis of drug-induced events is crucial for early management, and particularly bullous eruptions affect patients' health and quality of life. Additional research is necessary to confirm the m-TOR inhibitors association, which exploit the possible mechanisms and eventually point out preventive measures.