Patients with oral erosive and cutaneous lichen planus may have antibodies directed against the chronic ulcerative stomatitis protein antigen of 70-kDa.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study is to verify whether stratified epithelium-specific antinuclear antibodies are present in the sera of patients with erosive oral lichen planus and cutaneous lichen planus.


METHODS
We studied the pre-immune and immune serum of a rabbit immunized with a peptide corresponding to the N-terminus of the 70-kDa antigen chronic ulcerative stomatitis protein; sera from two patients, one with oral erosive lichen planus and one with cutaneous lichen planus who presented stratified epithelium-specific antinuclear antibodies at high titer; and a third serum from a patient with cutaneous lichen planus without stratified epithelium-specific antinuclear antibodies.


RESULTS
We demonstrated that the protein bands recognized by the serum of the rabbit immunized with an epitope of chronic ulcerative stomatitis protein co-migrated by SDS-PAGE with the protein bands recognized by the serum of a patient affected by oral erosive lichen planus and by the serum of a patient with cutaneous lichen planus, both containing antibodies directed against a 70-kDa antigen.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results confirm that antibodies specifically directed against the chronic ulcerative stomatitis protein are not a distinctive marker of chronic ulcerative stomatitis, but may also be detected in oral erosive and cutaneous lichen planus.
Cozzani
Emanuele
E
Department of Endocrinological and Medical Sciences, Section of Dermatology, University of Genoa, Viale Benedetto XV 7, 16132 Genoa, Italy.
Cacciapuoti
Marco
M
di Marco
Eddi
E
Zerega
Barbara
B
Descalzi Cancedda
Fiorella
F
Parodi
Aurora
A
D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D004848:Epithelium / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005892:Gingivitis, Necrotizing Ulcerative / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D017676:Lichen Planus, Oral / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear; D009687:Nuclear Proteins