A controlled and blinded study of immunoreactant deposition at the dermal-epidermal junction of patients with primary fibrositis syndrome.

The prevalence of immunoreactant deposition at the dermal-epidermal junction (DEJ) in clinically normal, sun exposed skin was assessed by direct immunofluorescence (IF) in 36 patients with primary fibrositis syndrome (PFS) and 12 clinically healthy control subjects. A granular or homogeneous deposition of IgG was seen at the DEJ in 52.8% (19/36) of patients with PFS and in 16.7% (2/12) of controls. The difference in IgG deposition between patients with PFS and controls was statistically significant (p = 0.030). Patients with PFS and controls did not demonstrate significant IF staining for IgA, IgM, or C3. Albumin deposition at the DEJ appeared to parallel IgG deposition in patients with PFS and control subjects who were positive for this immunoglobulin. No relationship was noted between IgG deposition and demographic or clinical characteristics of these patients' disease. These data suggest that IgG and albumin deposition at the DEJ is frequent in PFS and that further study of this skin phenomenon is warranted.