Current treatment of autoimmune blistering diseases

Michael Kasperkiewicz, Enno Schmidt*

*Corresponding author for this work
45 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Autoimmune bullous diseases are a heterogeneous group of disorders that can be subdivided according to the level of split formation in the intraepidermal blistering pemphigus diseases and subepidermal bullous disorders, latter including pemphigoid diseases, epidermolysis bullosa acquisita, and dermatitis herpetiformis. In the majority of autoimmune bullous disorders, disease activity can be sufficiently controlled by systemic corticosteroids in combination with further immunosuppressants/immunomodulants such as dapsone, doxycycline, methotrexate, azathioprine, or mycophenolate mofetil. In contrast, in pemphigus, mucous membrane pemphigoid, and epidermolysis bullosa acquisita, treatment is challenging and only in a minority of patients, conventional immunosuppressive therapy induces clinical remission. Since only a few years ago, only cyclophosphamide and high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin were available as potent second-line therapies. Meanwhile, immunoadsorption and the monoclonal anti-CD20 antibody rituximab have been established as further therapeutic options. Here, both conventional therapies and novel treatment regimens for autoimmune blistering diseases are discussed.

Original languageEnglish
JournalCurrent Drug Discovery Technologies
Volume6
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)270-280
Number of pages11
ISSN1570-1638
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 12.2009

Research Areas and Centers

  • Academic Focus: Center for Infection and Inflammation Research (ZIEL)

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