ABSTRACT
Objective To prepare human epidermal extracts by thermal separation,and to evaluate the value of epidermal extract-based Western blot analysis in the diagnosis of bullous pemphigoid (BP).Methods Human epidermal extracts were prepared by thermal separation from circumcised foreskins of healthy males.Serum samples were obtained from 22 inpatients with BP and 25 inpatients without BP in Hospital for Skin Diseases,Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College between January 2015 and August 2017.These serum samples were subjected to Western blot analysis with epidermal extracts as substrates,as well as to BP180-NC16A enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Statistical analysis was carried out using chi-square test and Fisher's exact test with the SPSS22.0 software.Results The sensitivities of epidermal extract-based Western blot analysis and BP 180-NC16A ELISA in the diagnosis of BP were 86.36％ (95 ％ CI:64.03％-96.41％) and 95.45％ (95％ CI:75.11％-99.76％) respectively (~ =1.10,P =0.294),and the specificities were 100％ (95％ CI:83.42％-100％) and 92％ (95％ CI:75.11％-99.76％) respectively (x2 =20.8,P =0.149).Epidermal extract-based Western blot analysis in the 22 patients with BP showed a protein band with relative molecular mass (RMM) of 230 000 in 4 patients,a protein band with RMM of 180 000 in 18,a protein band with RMM of 120 000 in 1,and a protein band with RMM of 97 000 in 1.The BP180-NC16A ELISA showed that the antibody titers were more than 50 U/ml in the BP patients with protein bands of RMM of 180 000.Conclusions The epidermal extract-based Western blot analysis mainly showed the protein band with RMM of 180 000 in the patients with BP.The sensitivity of the epidermal extract-based Western blot analysis was lower than that of the BP180-NC16A ELISA,and the epidermal extract-based Western blot analysis tends to be negative when the titer of the autoantibody is low.
ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the infection status in patients with vitiligo.Methods A total of 434 patients with vitiligo were collected eligible data by a uniform questionnaire.Anti-HEV IgG and anti-HEV IgM were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).The correlation between the positive rate of anti-HEV IgG and sex,age,duration and immunology in-dex were analyzed.Results Out of the 434 patients,26.26％ of the total subjects were anti-HEV IgG positive.The positivity of anti-HEV IgG in adults and the progress of vitiligo patients was higher than that of teenagers and stabilization of vitiligo patients,the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).Compared to the normal cases of IgA,IgG,C4,the positivity of anti-HEV IgG was significantly higher in the abnormal cases,the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).Those 10 cases who were anti-HEV IgM positive,were anti-HEV IgG positive also.Conclusion The infection status in patients with vitiligo is serious and effective prevention strategies are required in future for reducing HEV transmission in these patients in order to reduce the incidence.
ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the relationship between vitiligo and thyroid diseases .Methods Chemiluminescence was used to detect serum levels of free triiodothyronine (FT3) ,free thyroxine(FT4) ,thyrotropic stimulating hormone(TSH) ,anti‐thy‐roglobulin antibody(TG‐Ab) and anti‐thyroperoxidase antibody(TPO‐Ab) in 289 vitiligo patients and 128 healthy subjects .All re‐sults were statistically analyzed .Results The abnormal rates of FT3 ,TG‐Ab and TPO‐Ab in vitiligo patients were higher than healthy subjects (P<0 .05) ,which might be correlated with the age and gender of vilitigo patients .Conclusion Levels of thyroid function and autoantibody might be abnormal in vilitigo patients ,which could be more obvious in male and adolescent patients .It could be advantageous to screen thyroid function and antibody levels in patients with vitiligo .