A study of the correlation between acantholysis and apoptosis for the pathogenesis of pemphigus vulgaris

Abstract

The goal of the study is to determine the particular features of pemphigus vulgaris (PV) morphogenesis and keratinocytes in the patients’ skin having morphological signs of acantholysis and apoptosis as well as changes in Langerhans cells. Materials and methods. Skin tissue samples taken from 46 PV patients were examined. The skin tissue samples underwent cytology, histopathology and immunohistochemistry examinations as well as transmission electronic microscopy. An increased number of CD1a+ (dendritic) cells and apoptotic Cpp3+ keratinocytes was revealed in the skin of the PV patients. According to the electronic microscopy data, keratinocytes with signs of apoptosis are present in fresh vesicles in the acantholysis area at early PV stages quite seldom; at the same time, Langerhans cells had morphologic signs of activation. As the number of keratinocytes with desmosome lysis signs grew, the number of apoptotic keratinocytes was increasing reliably. Conclusion. In case of PV, apoptosis has a secondary nature and develops as anoikis.