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.
Department of Endocrinological and Medical Sciences, Section of Dermatology, University of Genoa, Viale Benedetto XV 7, 16132 Genoa, Italy.
Emanuele
E
Cozzani
Marco
M
Cacciapuoti
Eddi
E
di Marco
Barbara
B
Zerega
Fiorella
F
Descalzi Cancedda
Aurora
A
Parodi
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