[Effectiveness of immunoblotting in the diagnosis of blistering skin diseases].

Results obtained with the immunoblot technique and indirect immunofluorescence on the specific circulating autoantibodies in 20 patients with bullous pemphigoid and in 15 patients with pemphigus vulgaris were compared. In 17 of the 20 patients with bullous pemphigoid, autoantibodies against the 230 kD major antigen could be demonstrated, and in 9 of these 17 patients more specific autoantibodies against "salt-split" epidermis antigen (220, 180, 130, 100 and 75 kD) were shown. Indirect immunofluorescence were positive only on the sera of 5 of the 20 patients with bullous pemphigoid. The sera of 11 of the 15 patients with pemphigus vulgaris yielded autoantibodies against specific antigen (130 and 85 kD protein). To summarize the results, the immunoblot technique is an excellent method to demonstrate circulating autoantibodies in patients with autoimmune bullous skin diseases and its sensitivity is better than that of the indirect immunofluorescence, procedure. Moreover, it gives a possibility to differentiate among different clinical types.