title: The use of Biochip immunofluorescence microscopy for the serological diagnosis of epidermolysis bullosa acquisita.
abstract: Epidermolysis bullosa acquisita is a rare autoimmune bullous disease characterized by the presence of circulating antibodies directed against the collagen type VII. Diagnosis is generally based on clinical history, clinical features, histology, direct and indirect immunofluorescence, immunoblotting and ELISA. Our study aims to determine the validity of the Biochip immunofluorescence microscopy for the serological diagnosis of epidermolysis bullosa acquisita. Six patients with epidermolysis bullosa acquisita and presence of antibodies against type VII collagen confirmed by ELISA were included in the study. Subsequently, all sera of patients were analyzed using Biochip. Antibodies anti-collagen type VII were detected in all sera by means of the Biochip technology. Thus, Biochip shows a good correlation with ELISA and seems to be an appropriate method for the diagnosis of epidermolysis bullosa acquisita. It is an easy, fast and standardized method which could facilitate the diagnosis of this autoimmune bullous disease. We suggest that it could be used as an initial screening test to identify patients with epidermolysis bullosa acquisita.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Dermatology, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda -Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Pace 9, 20122, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Angelo Valerio
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Marzano
authors.affiliation: Unit of Dermatology, University of Genoa, IRCCS A.O.U. San Martino-IST, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Emanuele
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cozzani
authors.affiliation: Unit of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, University of Padua, Via C. Battisti 206, 35121, Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Biasin
authors.affiliation: Unit of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, University of Padua, Via C. Battisti 206, 35121, Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.affiliation: Unit of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, University of Padua, Via C. Battisti 206, 35121, Padua, Italy. mauro.alaibac@unipd.it.
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alaibac
mesh_terms: D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D002460:Cell Line; D024143:Collagen Type VII / Q000276:immunology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D016107:Epidermolysis Bullosa Acquisita / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D010865:Pilot Projects; D040081:Protein Array Analysis / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D024143:Collagen Type VII
keywords: Biochip technology; ELISA; Epidermolysis bullosa acquisita; Serological diagnosis