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Background: Desquamative gingivitis (DG) is principally associated with erosive oral lichen planus (EOLP), mucous membrane pemphigoid (MMP), and pemphigus vulgaris (PV).Methods: Serum autoantibodies including antigastric parietal cell antibody (GPCA), antithyroglobulin antibody (TGA), and antithyroid microsomal antibody (TMA) were measured in 500 patients with DG, 287 EOLP without DG (EOLP/DG- ) patients, and 100 healthy control subjects.Results: The 500 patients with DG were diagnosed as having EOLP in 455 (91%), PV in 40 (8%), and MMP in five (1%) patients. We found that 37.0%, 43.6%, and 42.6% of 500 patients with DG, 39.6%, 46.4%, and 45.1% of 455 EOLP with DG (EOLP/DG) patients, and 18.5%, 27.5%, and 30.3% of 287 EOLP/DG- patients had the presence of GPCA, TGA, and TMA in their sera, respectively. DG, EOLP/DG, and EOLP/DG- patients all had a significantly higher frequency of GPCA, TGA, or TMA positivity than healthy control subjects (all P-values < 0.001). Moreover, 455 EOLP/DG patients had a significantly higher frequency of GPCA, TGA, or TMA positivity than 287 EOLP/DG- patients (all P-values < 0.001). Of 210 TGA/TMA-positive patients with DG whose serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels were measured, 84.3%, 6.7%, and 9.0% patients had normal, lower, and higher serum TSH levels, respectively.Conclusion: We conclude that 73.4% DG, 77.1% EOLP/DG, and 47.4% EOLP/DG- patients may have GPCA/TGA/TMA positivity in their sera. Because part of GPCA-positive patients may develop pernicious anemia, autoimmune atrophic gastritis, and gastric carcinoma, and part of TGA/TMA-positive patients may have thyroid dysfunction, these patients should be referred to medical department for further management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mucocutaneous type of Behcet's disease (MCBD) is a multisystemic inflammatory disease with oral and genital ulcers with or without skin lesions.Methods: A solid phase, two-site sequential chemiluminescent immunometric assay was used to measure serum levels of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8 and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha in 54 normal control subjects and in 64 MCBD patients before and after treatment with levamisole plus colchicine.Results: We found that 67%, 83% or 67% of MCBD patients had a serum IL-6, IL-8 or TNF-alpha level greater than the upper normal limit of 4.7, 8.7 or 7.4 pg/ml, respectively. The mean serum level of IL-6 (9.9 +/- 2.4 pg/ml, P < 0.005), IL-8 (107.5 +/- 21.4 pg/ml, P < 0.001) or TNF-alpha (22.5 +/- 4.1 pg/ml, P < 0.001) in 64 MCBD patients was significantly higher than that (2.1 +/- 0.2, 5.7 +/- 0.2 or 3.8 +/- 0.2 pg/ml for IL-6, IL-8 or TNF-alpha level, respectively) in normal control subjects. In 43 MCBD patients with all the serum IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-alpha levels higher than their upper normal limits, treatment with levamisole plus colchicine for a period of 0.5-11.5 (mean, 3.2 +/- 2.4) months could significantly reduce the mean serum IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-alpha levels from 9.0 +/- 1.7 to 1.6 +/- 0.2 pg/ml (P < 0.001), 134.6 +/-28.2-6.0 +/- 0.4 pg/ml (P < 0.001) and 25.7 +/- 5.6-3.5 +/- 0.4 pg/ml (P < 0.001), respectively.Conclusions: Treatment with levamisole and colchicine can result in a significant reduction of serum IL-6, IL-8 or TNF-alpha level in MCBD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous studies have shown the presence of serum anti-nuclear (ANA), anti-smooth muscle (SMA), anti-mitochondrial (AMA), anti-gastric parietal cell (GPCA), anti-thyroglobulin (TGA) and anti-thyroid microsomal autoantibodies (TMA) in small groups of patients with oral lichen planus (OLP). Methods: In this study, the serum levels of ANA, SMA, AMA, GPCA, TGA and TMA were measured in a group of 320 Chinese OLP patients and 53 healthy control subjects to assess whether Chinese OLP patients had significantly higher frequencies of serum autoantibodies than healthy control subjects and to assess which risk factors had a significant influence on the possession of a specific serum autoantibody in OLP patients. Results: We found that autoantibodies were present in 195 (60.9%) of the 320 OLP patients. The frequencies of presence of serum ANA (28.1%), GPCA (26.3%), TGA (21.3%) and TMA (24.4%) in OLP patients were significantly higher than those (5.7%, 1.9%, 1.9% and 1.9%, respectively) in healthy control subjects (all P-values were < 0.005). Forty-one (12.8%) OLP patients also had anti-hepatitis C virus antibody (HCVA) in their sera. The multivariate logistic regression found that major erosive OLP (EOLP) [odds ratio (OR) = 1.786], TGA/TMA-positivity (OR = 2.517), and HCVA-positivity (OR = 2.214) were significant risk factors to influence ANA-positivity in OLP patients. Moreover, only major EOLP (OR = 1.879) and ANA-positivity (OR = 2.581) were significant risk factors to influence TGA/TMA-positivity in OLP patients. Conclusions: There are significantly higher frequencies of presence of ANA, GPCA, TGA and TMA in Chinese OLP patients than in healthy control subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The frequencies of HLA-DR and DQ antigens in 24 Chinese patients with Behçet's disease (BD) were calculated and compared with those in 130 healthy control Chinese and those in 80 Chinese patients with recurrent oral ulcers (ROU). Although an increased trend of DRw6 and DRw8 antigens in patients with BD was noted, there was no significant difference in frequencies of HLA-DR and DQ antigens between patients with BD and healthy control subjects or patients with ROU after correction of P values (Pc > 0.05). Further analysis of our data of the phenotype frequencies of DRw6 and DRw8 antigens according to the subtypes of BD also showed the increased frequencies of DRw6 and DRw8 antigens in patients with mucocutaneous type of BD as compared with those in healthy control subjects. However, only the phenotype frequency of DRw8 antigen in patients with mucocutaneous type of BD was significantly higher than that in patients with ROU (P < 0.005, Pc < 0.05, relative risk = 17.7, and etiologic fraction = 0.30). This significant increase of the phenotype frequency suggests that the gene coding for HLA-DRw8 antigen in patients with ROU was only partially (30%) responsible for susceptibility to the mucocutaneous type of BD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]