Detailed profiling of anti-desmoglein autoantibodies identifies anti-Dsg1 reactivity as a key driver of disease activity and clinical expression in pemphigus vulgaris.

Detailed profiling of anti-desmoglein autoantibodies identifies anti-Dsg1 reactivity as a key driver of disease activity and clinical expression in pemphigus vulgaris. Autoimmunity. 2015 Jun;48(4):231-41 Authors: Naseer SY, Seiffert-Sinha K, Sinha AA Abstract With their near-universal presence in patients and ease of clinical measurement, anti-desmoglein (Dsg) antibodies serve as primary candidates for creating prognostic tools in Pemphigus vulgaris (PV). Although the desmoglein compensation hypothesis postulates a clear relationship between anti-Dsg autoantibodies and clinical phenotype in PV, recent studies have questioned the fidelity of this hypothesis as a predictor of lesion morphology. Moreover, few studies address the association of anti-Dsg antibodies to other clinical parameters such as disease phase and age at onset. Using the largest patient repository to date in PV, we present a detailed analysis of anti-desmoglein antibody profiles across a comprehensive range of dynamic (disease phase, therapy, lesion morphology) and temporal (disease duration, age at sampling, age at onset) clinical parameters. Our data highlight the non-traditional but key role of anti-Dsg1 levels in tracking disease activity. We show that declining anti-Dsg1 levels may predict progression from active phase to early remission and long-term maintenance of remission, regardless of lesion morphology. In contrast, many remittent patients have elevated le...
Source: Autoimmunity - Category: Allergy & Immunology Tags: Autoimmunity Source Type: research