Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of autoantibodies against 2 hemidesmosomal proteins typically found in patients with bullous pemphigoid (BP), BP antigen II (BP180) and BP antigen I (BP230), in persons without BP. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Academic medical center. Patients: An age- and sex-stratified, random, population-based sample of local county patients seen during 2007: 20 men and 20 women per decade of age (from age 20 to 89 years) and 57 patients (33 women and 24 men) aged 90 to 99 years. Intervention: Stored serum samples were retrieved for analysis by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and indirect immunofluorescence. Main Outcome Measure: Presence of circulating autoantibodies to BP180 and BP230. Results: Of the 337 study patients, 25 (7.4%) were positive for 1 or both autoantibodies; these 25 samples all tested negative with indirect immunofluorescence. Autoantibody levels did not vary by age or sex. Conclusions: Bullous pemphigoid has a higher incidence in the elderly population, but the prevalence of antibodies to BP180 and BP230 did not increase significantly with age or vary by sex in this population-based sample. Other exogenous factors may affect the development of these autoantibodies in a population without clinically evident immunobullous disease, including limitations inherent to the test (false-positive rate).
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 21-25 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Archives of Dermatology |
Volume | 146 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 2010 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Dermatology