Pyodermatitis-pyostomatitis vegetans and anti BP180 autoantibodies

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Why is it important?

In our patient, the significance of the BP180 antibodies isunclear. Although the presence of BP180 antibodies has beenreported in healthy people of all ages;7in our patient it wasassociated with IgG and C3 deposits along BMZ. Therefore,we suggest that their presence could be secondary to exposureor unmasking of BMZ antigens. Moreover, circulating autoan-tibodies to BP180 turned negative in the remission phase(6 months duration) of PD-PSV. Therefore, we cannot excludethat autoantibodies to BP180 might contribute to the patho-genesis of the disease, as supposed in lichen sclerosus.8Theepitope exposure and spreading consequent to mucosaldamage may lead to an autoimmune reaction, which couldinduce or amplify an injury progression, both in mucosa andskin. This hypothesis should be confirmed in further cases of PD-PSV.