ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: To the best of our knowledge there is only one report about salivary desmoglein (Dsg) 1 and 3 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in pemphigus vulgaris (PV), whereas several studies have been performed on serum. AIMS: To find the sensitivity of serum and salivary anti-Dsg1 and 3 antibodies in the diagnosis of PV, and to determine the relationship between disease severity and phenotype with antibody levels. METHODS: Fifty new patients with PV were included in this study. The diagnosis of PV was confirmed by histopathology and direct immunofluorescence. Demographical data, disease severity and phenotypes were recorded on questionnaire sheets. Dsg1 and Dsg3 ELISA were performed on serum and salivary samples of patients and controls. RESULTS: Thirty-seven patients had mucocutaneous phenotype; whereas mucosal dominant and cutaneous dominant phenotypes were seen in 11 and 2 patients respectively. The sensitivities of serum anti-Dsg3 and anti-Dsg1 were 94% and 72% respectively. The sensitivities of salivary anti-Dsg3 and anti-Dsg1 antibodies were accordingly 94% and 70%. Compared with mucosal phenotype, serum and salivary anti-Dsg1 antibodies were significantly higher in the patients with mucocutaneous phenotype. Serum Dsg1 antibodies were related with cutaneous and serum Dsg3 antibodies with mucosal severity scores. Salivary Dsg1 antibodies were significantly correlated with mucosal severity (P=0.00); however there was no correlation between this antibody and cutaneous severity (P=0.07). Salivary Dsg3 antibodies were not correlated with mucosal severity (P=0.16). CONCLUSION: Saliva Dsg ELISA could be used for diagnosis of PV. Salivary Dsg1 antibodies had a significant correlation with mucosal severity.
Subject(s)
Desmoglein 1/metabolism , Desmoglein 3/metabolism , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Pemphigus/metabolism , Saliva/metabolism , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Autoantibodies/immunology , Autoantibodies/metabolism , Biomarkers/metabolism , Desmoglein 1/immunology , Desmoglein 3/immunology , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Pemphigus/diagnosis , Pemphigus/immunology , Phenotype , Retrospective Studies , Severity of Illness Index , Young AdultABSTRACT
AIM: To elucidate the possible difference in two promoter polymorphisms of the transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) gene (-800G > A, -509C > T) between ulcerative colitis (UC) patients and normal subjects. METHODS: A total of 155 patients with established ulcerative colitis and 139 normal subjects were selected as controls. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms within the promoter region of TGF-beta1 gene (-509C > T and -800G > A) were genotyped using PCR-RFLP. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference in genotype and allele frequency distributions between UC patients and controls for the -800G > A polymorphism of the TGF-beta1 gene (P < 0.05). The frequency of the TGF-beta1 gene polymorphism at position -800 showed that the AA genotype and the allele A frequencies significantly differed between the patients and healthy controls (P < 0.05). At position -509, there was no statically significant difference in genotype and allele frequency between the patients and control subjects. CONCLUSION: The results of our study indicate that there is a significant difference in both allele and genotype frequency at position -800G > A of TGF-beta1 gene promoter between Iranian patients with UC and normal subjects.
