Comparative study of direct and indirect immunofluorescence for diagnosis of canine pemphigus foliaceus

ABSTRACT Pemphigus foliaceus (PF) is the most common autoimmune skin disease in dogs. It is characterized by pustules, erosions, and crusts which occur due to the presence of autoantibodies that target intercellular adhesion. Histopathological examination is considered the gold standard pattern in the diagnosis, but may sometimes be inconclusive, especially when the characteristic findings are not identified. New diagnostic tests are continuously being developed and immunofluorescence assays, could be a valuable alternative diagnostic tool. This study aimed to evaluate the applicability of direct and indirect immunofluorescence (DIF and IIF) tests for the diagnosis of canine PF. Twenty eight dogs were divided into two groups: Group I with 14 dogs with PF and Group II (control) with 14 dogs with Superficial pyoderma (differential diagnoses of PF). All animals were submitted to skin biopsy to histopathological and DIF. Blood samples were collected to assess IIF. Comparing the DIF results against the histopathology test, there was an agreement of 75% (9/12) with a Kappa index of 0.77 (P

摘要：落叶型天疱疮（Pemphigus foliaceus, PF）是犬类最常见的自身免疫性皮肤病，以脓疱、糜烂及痂皮为典型临床表现，其发病与靶向细胞间黏附结构的自身抗体产生密切相关。组织病理学检查被视为该病诊断的金标准，但在未观察到特征性病变时，检测结果有时可呈无定论状态。当前新型诊断技术持续涌现，免疫荧光检测或可成为极具应用价值的替代诊断手段。本研究旨在评估直接免疫荧光（DIF）与间接免疫荧光（IIF）检测在犬类PF诊断中的适用性。本研究共纳入28只受试犬，分为两组：组I包含14只PF患犬，组II（对照组）包含14只浅表脓皮病患犬（PF的鉴别诊断病种）。所有受试动物均接受皮肤活检以完成组织病理学检测及直接免疫荧光检测，并采集血液样本以开展间接免疫荧光检测。将直接免疫荧光检测结果与组织病理学检测结果进行比对，二者一致性达75%（9/12），卡帕指数为0.77（P值未完整标注）。