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The indirect immunofluorescent (IF) staining method has firmly established the presence of antiepithelial autoantibodies in the sera of patients with pemphigus. These antibodies, which are reactive with intercellular substance (ICS) of stratified squamous epithelia, occur in all forms of true pemphigus, including pemphigus vulgaris, pemphigus foliaceus, pemphigus erythematosus, pemphigus vegetans and Brazilian pemphigus foliaceus or fogo selvagem. As such, the test represents a valuable diagnostic procedure. Past immunohistologic investigations, using direct IF staining, have revealed IgG bound in vivo to the ICS areas in virtually all skin lesions from pemphigus patients examined to date.

Experimental animal tumors caused by papova viruses contain cellular antigens which relate to tumor rejection. A similar mechanism may account for the spontaneous resolution of human warts. We examined the antigenic composition of human wart tissue using rabbit antisera prepared to crude wart homogenates. The antisera were absorbed with pooled human plasma and liver extract prior to indirect immunofluorescent experiments. The absorbed antisera produced fluorescent staining of the nucleii and cell surfaces of epidermal cells in warts obtained from different patients, and did not react with normal skin. A single band of precipitation was detected when the antisera was reacted in agarose gel diffusion with an aqueous extract of wart tissue. The antisera also reacted with the nuclei and cell surfaces of keratoacanthomas and sqamous cell carcinomas but not based cell carcinomas. All immunological reactivity was eliminated after exhaustive absorption with pooled extracts of normal epidermis. These studies demonstrate cellular antigens of human wart tissue which are present in normal tissue and markedly increased in warts and certain epidermal tumors. These antigens appear to be organspecific and similar in distribution to the epidermal antigen of pemphigus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although much has been learned regarding the immunology of penicillin eruptions, the advances are largely limited to reactions mediated by humeral antibodies. Therefore, we undertook a study of the more common, but less well-understood morbilliform eruptions which occur several days to weeks following penicillin therapy. Biopsies were taken from 4 patients with such eruptions and from 4 control subjects and studied by electron microscopy as well as light microscopy. The patients were skin tested with penicillin antigens and studied for hemagglutinating antibodies. The results showed no abnormalities in hemagglutinating antibodies, no detectable skin-sensitizing antibodies or delayed sensitivity to penicillin derivatives. Electron microscopy revealed striking differences between patients with penicillin eruptions and controls. The involved skins showed intercellular edema limited to the basal area and some intracellular edema. The basement lamina remained intact. Other morphologic changes presented interesting similarities to those seen in pemphigus vulgaris including clumped perinuclear tonofibrils and "tomb-stone-like" basal keratinocytes. Fluorescence studies revealed anti-epithelial antibodies in the blood serum of 2 of the 4 patients with morbilliform penicillin eruptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Properties of penicilloyl-specific IgC antibodies have been studied and presented. The results indicate that these antibodies act to block the adverse effects of skin-sensitizing antibodies of the same specificity. However, the avidity of skin-sensitizing antibodies for antigen appears greater. Knowledge of the type and titer of penicillin antibodies is of clinical usefulness in the patient who requires therapy with penicillin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]