Assessment of anti-stratum corneum antibody titres in pustulosis palmaris et plantaris.

Titres of anti-stratum corneum (SC) antibodies, determined by an indirect immunofluorescence (IF) technique, were significantly higher on average in pustulosis palmaris et plantaris (PPP) and pompholyx than in normal controls. By a complement IF technique, the antibodies fixed complement (C3) in high titer in PPP, but to a much lesser degree in pompholyx and normal controls. Direct IF microscopy studies showed the deposition of IgG and C3 in the SC in some of the biopsy specimens of the pustular lesions. These findings suggest that in PPP anti-SC antibodies may be involved at least in part in activation of the complement system and the subsequent accumulation of polymorphonuclear leukocytes.