Evaluation of anti-desmoglein-1 and anti-desmoglein-3 autoantibody titers in pemphigus patients at the time of the initial diagnosis and after clinical remission

It has been suggested that anti-desmoglein autoantibody titers could be helpful in follow-up and therapeutic management of pemphigus patients. However, there is no consensus regarding the relationship between anti-desmoglein autoantibody titers and clinical activity of pemphigus. The aim of our study was to evaluate if clinical remission of pemphigus relates to the presence of anti-desmoglein autoantibodies. Thirty patients with pemphigus vulgaris and 7 patients with pemphigus foliaceous were included in the study. Assessment of autoantibody titers was carried out at the time of the initial diagnosis and after the clinical remission using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay-based assay. Our results indicate that pemphigus clinical remission did not necessarily imply a serological remission, and consequently it is necessary to establish if withdrawal of the immunosuppressive regimen in pemphigus should be based exclusively on the achievement of clinical remission or also on the serological findings.