[Observation of expression of ABH blood group antigens in cultured epidermis and its allograft].

The expression of ABH blood group antigens in cultured epidermis and its allograft was investigated by an immunocytochemical method indirect enzyme conjugated SPA assay. In this study, fifty-five pieces of cultured epidermal sheets, which were cultured in vitro for one to nine weeks, were examined. The ABH antigens were found in all samples. In cultured epidermis, the blood group antigens were exhibited in a patchy and discontinuous way, unlike the distribution of such antigens in normal skin, which was in a form of a belt located in the granular and spinous layers of the epidermis. In this study, four burned patients were grafted with cultured allogeneic epidermal sheets, and the donor antigens were found in all biopsies in all biopsies taken from 10 to 35 days after grafting. Nineteen days after grafting, the recipient antigens were also detected. The method used in this study to detect ABH blood group antigens was proved to have the virtue of high sensitivity and specificity. The results observed indicated that the ABH blood group antigens expression of epidermis was remarkably reduced during proliferation or after culture in vitro, which might contribute to the depression fo the antigenic activity of the cultured epidermal allografts.