Darier's disease: a partially immunodeficient state.

Darier's disease (Keratosis follicularis) a dominantly inherited keratinizing disorder of the skin, is associated with the development of severe, progressive viral and bacterial skin infections. We investigated the possibility that an inadequacy of the immune system might be responsible for this tendency. Seven of our 8 patients with Darier's disease showed complete anergy to common skin test antigens and their peripheral blood lymphocytes failed to produce the lymphokine, leukocyte inhibitory factor (LIF) in vitro when stimulated with the same antigens. One Darier's patient and 6 controls showed positivity to at least one skin test antigen and produced lymphokine in vitro to the appropriate antigen. All patients had normal leukocyte and differential counts and normal numbers of circulating T and B cells. All 8 patients with Darier's disease demonstrated no proliferative response to optimal doses of the T cell mitogen Con A while showing normal responses to the T cell stimulant PHA and the T cell dependent B cell stimulant PWM. This previously unreported finding suggests a subtle abnormality of T cells in Darier's and might be a marker for these patients. Serum from 2 patients with Darier's disease did not suppress the in vitro immunologic activity of lymphocytes from normals. Finally, 13-Cis-retinoic acid in dosages adequate to clear their skin disease did not alter the in vivo or in vitro immunologic functions in 3 Darier's patients, suggesting that the immune dysfunction is not a secondary phenomenon.