Lichen planus pemphigoides with circulating autoantibodies against 200 and 180 kDa epidermal antigens.

Abstract

We describe a case of lichen planus pemphigoides with circulating autoantibodies against 200 and 180 kDa epidermal antigens. A 24-year-old man presented pruritic erythematous patches with occasional central blister formation on the face, neck, and trunk and erythematous hyperkeratotic patches on the elbows and feet for 10 months. Histopathological findings of the neck and plantar lesions were consistent with lichen planus. Direct immunofluorescence studies from both lesions showed a linear deposition of IgG and C3 and cytoid bodies along the basement membrane zone. Indirect immunofluorescence studies demonstrated circulating IgG antibodies deposited on the epidermal side of salt-split skin. Immunoblot analysis using epidermal extract showed that the patient's serum reacted with 180 kDa bullous pemphigoid antigen (BPAG2) and a 200 kDa antigen. The cutaneous lesions almost cleared with a low dose of prednisolone and acitretin.