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Lehr S, Felber F, Tantcheva-Poór I, Keßler C, Eming R, Nyström A, Rizzi M, Kiritsi D. Occurrence of autoantibodies against skin proteins in patients with hereditary epidermolysis bullosa predisposes to development of autoimmune blistering disease. Front Immunol 2022; 13:945176. [PMID: 35958577 PMCID: PMC9358991 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.945176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2022] [Accepted: 06/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Skin blistering disorders are associated with inherited defects in proteins involved in the dermal-epidermal adhesion or autoantibodies targeting those proteins. Although blistering in hereditary epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is pathogenetically linked to genetic deficiency of distinct proteins of the epidermis or the dermal-epidermal junction, circulating autoantibodies against these proteins have also been identified in EB patients. So far, autoantibodies have been considered bystanders in EB and active pathogenicity of them in EB has not been disclosed. In sera of a cohort of 258 EB patients, we found by ELISA in 22% of the patients autoantibodies against the bullous pemphigoid antigen BP180. The titers correlated negatively with collagen VII skin expression and positively with disease severity. Among those patients, we identified six (2.33%) with clinical features of an autoimmune bullous disorder (AIBD) and positive indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) staining. In literature, we found four more cases of EB patients developing disease-aggravating AIBD. Co-existence of these two rare skin disorders suggests that EB patients have a predisposition for the development of AIBD. Our work highlights that EB patients with increased itch or blister formation should be evaluated for additional AIBD and repeated screening for changes in autoantibody titers and skin-binding specificities is advised.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saskia Lehr
- Department of Dermatology, Medical Center University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Felicitas Felber
- Department of Dermatology, Medical Center University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | | | - Christina Keßler
- Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital Muenster, Muenster, Germany
| | - Rüdiger Eming
- Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Alexander Nyström
- Department of Dermatology, Medical Center University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS), University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Marta Rizzi
- Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Medical Center University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Center for Chronic Immunodeficiency, Medical Center University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Dimitra Kiritsi
- Department of Dermatology, Medical Center University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- *Correspondence: Dimitra Kiritsi,
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