Correlation of Circulating Antibody Titres with Activity of Disease in Pemphigus

Abstract

Correlation of antibody tires with the clinical severity of the disease was done in 58 patients having pemphigus. Serial determinations of the antibody titre-s were done in 40 patients ranging from two to eight follow-up samples. Titre of the antibody correlated with the cases. In 6 disease, activity in 70% of the cases. In 6 patients with mild disease, the antibody titre was persistently high, while in 11 patients with moderate to severe disease activity, antibody was nil or present in - low- titres. While the former group may indicate better prognosis and prolonged remissions the latter situation could be as a result of immune failure either due to fulmlinant disease or due to the immunosuppressive effect of the, high doses of the drugs used to control the disease.