ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Immunohistological analysis of immune cells in blistering skin lesions

Mahmoud R Hussein, Fayed Mahammad Nagy Ali and Abd-Elhady M M Omar

Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University Hospitals, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr M R Hussein
Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University Hospitals, Assiut, Egypt; mrh17{at}swissinfo.org

Background: Bullous skin lesions are characterised by the presence of intraepidermal or subepidermal bullae. Although inflammatory cell infiltrate is a constant feature in these lesions, their immunophenotypic characterisation is still incomplete.

Aim: To determine whether the development of bullous skin diseases is associated with changes in the inflammatory cell infiltrate.

Materials and methods: 34 cases representing lesions with both intraepidermal and subepidermal bullae were examined using immunoperoxidase staining methods and antibodies targeting antigens for histiocytes (CD68), B cells (CD20+), T cells (CD3+), T cells with cytotoxic potential (T cell intracellular associated antigen, TIA1+) and activity (granzyme B, GRB+). The adjacent normal skin (lesions) and an additional five cases of normal skin were also examined (controls).

Results: The transition from normal skin to lesional skin (lesions with intraepidermal and subepidermal bullae) was associated with a significant increase (p0.05) in the density of total inflammatory cell infiltrate, CD68+ cells, CD3+ T lymphocytes, CD20+ B lymphocytes, TIA1+-resting cytotoxic T cells and GRB+ T cells with cytotoxic activity.

Conclusions: The increase in inflammatory cell infiltrate during the transition from normal to lesional skin may reflect the presence of an increased antigenicity of the lesional cells or a response to some basement membrane components. CD68+ and CD3+ cells, especially the resting cytotoxic ones, achieved numerical dominance in these lesions. Cell-mediated immunity seems to have critical role in the development of these lesions.

Abbreviations: CTL, cytotoxic T lymphocyte; GRB, granzyme B; TIA, T cell intracellular-associated antigen

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