Diagnosing new autoimmune blistering skin diseases of dogs and cats.

Autoimmune blistering skin diseases have been recognized for decades in humans and dogs. In the dog, most of these diseases unfortunately were grouped under the generic denomination of bullous pemphigoid without any confirmation that the autoantibodies targeted bullous pemphigoid antigens. In recent years, advanced diagnostic methods have permitted the recognition of new autoimmune blistering skin diseases in humans and companion-animal species. At this time, the diagnosis of these entities is made by combining clinical signs and results of histopathology. Immunologic methods serve to establish the presence of skin-fixed and circulating autoantibodies that target various epidermal or basement membrane antigens. In this article, salient features of the most common canine and feline subepidermal blistering dermatoses (mucous membrane pemphigold, bullous pemphigold, epidermolysis bullosa acquisita) and new variants of cutaneous lupus (type I bullous systemic lupus erythematosus and vesicular cutaneous lupus erythematosus) are presented.