title: Bullous pemphigoid and neurodegenerative diseases: a study in a setting of a Central European university dermatology department.
abstract: Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is an autoimmune blistering dermatosis of the elderly mediated by IgG and IgE antibodies to skin hemidesmosomal proteins, BP180 and/or BP230, that occur physiologically also in neuronal tissue. It was reported that BP is associated with neurodegenerative diseases (ND). We performed a retrospective study in a setting of a Central European university dermatology department on prevalence of ND in 94 BP patients. 26 out of 94 BP patients had at least one ND. ND included: Parkinson's disease, dementia, stroke, hear loss, tinnitus, blindness, vertigo, neurosyphilis, systemic sclerosis, and epilepsy. Since population aging is conceivably responsible for the rising number of BP cases as a result of immunosenescence-related phenomena, the plausible BP-specific immunopathogenetic relationship between BP and ND deserves to be further experimentally explored.
authors.affiliation: Autoimmune Blistering Dermatoses Section, Department of Dermatology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 49 Przybyszewski Street, 60-355, Poznan, Poland. p.pietkiewicz@mp.pl.
authors.forename: Paweł
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pietkiewicz
authors.affiliation: Autoimmune Blistering Dermatoses Section, Department of Dermatology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 49 Przybyszewski Street, 60-355, Poznan, Poland.
authors.forename: Justyna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gornowicz-Porowska
authors.affiliation: Cutaneous Histopathology and Immunopathology Section, Department of Dermatology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bowszyc-Dmochowska
authors.affiliation: Autoimmune Blistering Dermatoses Section, Department of Dermatology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 49 Przybyszewski Street, 60-355, Poznan, Poland.
authors.forename: Paweł
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bartkiewicz
authors.affiliation: Autoimmune Blistering Dermatoses Section, Department of Dermatology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 49 Przybyszewski Street, 60-355, Poznan, Poland.
authors.forename: Marian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dmochowski
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000276:immunology; D003880:Dermatology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D010391:Pemphigoid, Bullous / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies
keywords: Aging; Bullous pemphigoid; Neurodegenerative diseases