AUTOANTIBODIES IN DERMATITIS HERPETIFORMIS

Abstract

SUMMARY.– The incidence of thyroid and gastric autoantibodies in the sera of 43 patients with dermatitis herpetiformis was determined and compared with the incidence in a control group matched for age and sex. Thyroid microsomal antibody was present in the sera of 9 patients in the dermatitis herpetiformis group compared with 1 patient in the control group. This difference is statistically significant. Thyroglobulin antibody was present in the sera of 6 patients in the dermatitis herpetiformis group. It was not present in the control group. The incidence of gastric parietal cell antibody was increased, but not to a statistically significant extent, in the dermatitis herpetiformis patients. The relevance of these findings to the aetiology of dermatitis herpetiformis is discussed.