title: Salivary desmoglein enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for diagnosis of pemphigus vulgaris: a noninvasive alternative test to serum assessment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Serum desmoglein enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is used for the diagnosis and monitoring of pemphigus diseases.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare the diagnostic accuracy of salivary antidesmoglein (Dsg) 1 and 3 ELISA in the diagnosis of pemphigus vulgaris (PV) patients with that of serum desmogleins ELISA.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-six untreated PV patients and 180 age- and sex-matched PV-free controls were recruited in this case-control study. PV was diagnosed based on clinical, histopathological, and direct immunofluorescence findings. After processing, serum and salivary anti-Dsg 1 and 3 were measured by the ELISA method using Euroimmun kit (Lübeck, Germany).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Using the cut-off point of 20 relative units (RU)/mL, the serum anti-Dsg 1 and 3 ELISA were positive in 62 (72.1%) and 83 (96.5%) patients, respectively, and the salivary anti-Dsg 1 and 3 ELISA were positive in 31 (36.1%) and 63 (73.3%) patients, respectively. The specificity of salivary anti-Dsg 1 and anti-Dsg 3 were both 98.9%. Optimal cut-off values of 7.7 and 13.4 RU/mL were determined for the salivary anti-Dsg 1 and anti-Dsg 3 ELISA, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Salivary anti-Dsg 1 and 3 ELISA with high specificities (98.9%) could be suggested as safe and noninvasive methods for the diagnosis of PV when obtaining a blood sample is difficult.
authors: Autoimmune Bullous Diseases Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1199663911, Iran ; Department of Dermatology, Razi Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Vahdat Islamic Square, Tehran 1199663911, Iran.
authors: Hossein
authors: 0000-0002-3530-3541
authors: H
authors: Mortazavi
authors: Center for Research and Training in Skin Diseases and Leprosy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1416613675, Iran.
authors: Alireza
authors: A
authors: Khatami
authors: Department of Dermatology, Razi Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Vahdat Islamic Square, Tehran 1199663911, Iran.
authors: Zahra
authors: Z
authors: Seyedin
authors: Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
authors: Iman
authors: 0000-0003-2273-303X
authors: I
authors: Vasheghani Farahani
authors: Autoimmune Bullous Diseases Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1199663911, Iran ; Department of Dermatology, Razi Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Vahdat Islamic Square, Tehran 1199663911, Iran.
authors: Maryam
authors: M
authors: Daneshpazhooh
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D051182:Desmogleins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010392:Pemphigus / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012372:ROC Curve; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D051182:Desmogleins