Skip to main content

Bullous Pemphigoid

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Diseases of the Oral Mucosa

Abstract

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is the most common subepidermal blistering disorder. Typically, it presents with an urticarial and/or generalized blistering eruption and itch. The oral cavity is affected in about 10–20% of patients. However, atypical presentations of localized bullous lesions or “non-bullous” presentations are prevalent in nearly 20% of the cases, often presenting a diagnostic challenge. BP generally affects the elderly, over the age of 70 years, with a slight female predominance. The severity of itch and cutaneous lesions can affect the quality of life in patients with BP. In patients with associated neurologic disease or long-term corticosteroid use, prognosis is worse, and the disease carries a considerable mortality rate. In the recent two decades, significant progress has been made in our understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms leading to inflammation, tissue damage and subepidermal blister formation in BP. We review the epidemiology, risk factors and associations, clinical manifestations, diagnosis and treatment of bullous pemphigoid.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Langan SM, Smeeth L, Hubbard R, Fleming KM, Smith CJ, West J. Bullous pemphigoid and pemphigus vulgaris--incidence and mortality in the UK: population based cohort study. BMJ. 2008;337:a180.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Kridin K, Ludwig RJ. The growing incidence of bullous pemphigoid: overview and potential explanations. Front Med (Lausanne). 2018;5:220.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Hubner F, Recke A, Zillikens D, Linder R, Schmidt E. Prevalence and age distribution of pemphigus and pemphigoid diseases in Germany. J Invest Dermatol. 2016;136(12):2495–8.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Cugno M, Marzano AV, Bucciarelli P, Balice Y, Cianchini G, Quaglino P, et al. Increased risk of venous thromboembolism in patients with bullous pemphigoid. The INVENTEP (INcidence of VENous ThromboEmbolism in bullous pemphigoid) study. Thromb Haemost. 2016;115(1):193–9.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Amber KT, Zikry J, Hertl M. A multi-hit hypothesis of bullous pemphigoid and associated neurological disease: is HLA-DQB1*03:01, a potential link between immune privileged antigen exposure and epitope spreading? Hla. 2017;89(3):127–34.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Amber KT, Murrell DF, Schmidt E, Joly P, Borradori L. Autoimmune subepidermal bullous diseases of the skin and mucosae: clinical features, diagnosis, and management. Clin Rev Allergy Immunol. 2018;54(1):26–51.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Liu SD, Chen WT, Chi CC. Association between medication use and bullous pemphigoid: a systematic review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Dermatol. 2020;156(8):891–900.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Schmidt E. Della Torre R, Borradori L. clinical features and practical diagnosis of bullous pemphigoid. Dermatol Clin. 2011;29(3):427–38., viii-ix.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Meijer JM, Diercks GFH, de Lang EWG, Pas HH, Jonkman MF. Assessment of diagnostic strategy for early recognition of bullous and nonbullous variants of pemphigoid. JAMA Dermatol. 2019;155(2):158–65.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Kridin K, Bergman R. Assessment of the prevalence of mucosal involvement in bullous pemphigoid. JAMA Dermatol. 2019;155(2):166–71.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Clape A, Muller C, Gatouillat G, Le Jan S, Barbe C, Pham BN, et al. Mucosal involvement in bullous pemphigoid is mostly associated with disease severity and to absence of anti-BP230 autoantibody. Front Immunol. 2018;9:479.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Hubner F, Langan EA, Recke A. Lichen planus Pemphigoides: from lichenoid inflammation to autoantibody-mediated blistering. Front Immunol. 2019;10:1389.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Waisbourd-Zinman O, Ben-Amitai D, Cohen AD, Feinmesser M, Mimouni D, Adir-Shani A, et al. Bullous pemphigoid in infancy: clinical and epidemiologic characteristics. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2008;58(1):41–8.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Lai YC, Yew YW, Lambert WC. Bullous pemphigoid and its association with neurological diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2016;30(12):2007–15.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Seppänen A, Suuronen T, Hofmann SC, Majamaa K, Alafuzoff I. Distribution of collagen XVII in the human brain. Brain Res. 2007;1158:50–6.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Kunzli K, Favre B, Chofflon M, Borradori L. One gene but different proteins and diseases: the complexity of dystonin and bullous pemphigoid antigen 1. Exp Dermatol. 2016;25(1):10–6.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Messingham KAN, Aust S, Helfenberger J, Parker KL, Schultz S, McKillip J, et al. Autoantibodies to collagen XVII are present in Parkinson's disease and localize to tyrosine-hydroxylase positive neurons. J Invest Dermatol. 2016;136(3):721–3.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Haefliger S, Sitaru S, Cazzaniga S, Rammlmair A, Feldmeyer L, Horn MP, et al. Diagnostic performance of direct immunofluorescence microscopy studies by biopsy sites in autoimmune subepidermal blistering dermatoses: a prospective study. Br J Dermatol. 2020;183(5):970–2.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Wang M, Lehman JS, Camilleri MJ, Drage LA, Wieland CN. Circulating bullous pemphigoid autoantibodies in the setting of negative direct immunofluorescence findings for bullous pemphigoid: a single-center retrospective review. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2019;81(2):472–9.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Tampoia M, Giavarina D, Di Giorgio C, Bizzaro N. Diagnostic accuracy of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) to detect anti-skin autoantibodies in autoimmune blistering skin diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Autoimmunity Reviews. 2012;12(2):121–6.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Di Zenzo G, Joly P, Zambruno G, Borradori L. Sensitivity of immunofluorescence studies vs enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for diagnosis of bullous pemphigoid. Arch Dermatol. 2011;147(12):1454–6.; author reply 6.

    Google Scholar 

  22. van Beek N, Kruger S, Fuhrmann T, Lemcke S, Goletz S, Probst C, et al. Multicenter prospective study on multivariant diagnostics of autoimmune bullous dermatoses using the BIOCHIP technology. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2020;83(5):1315–22.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Genovese G, Di Zenzo G, Cozzani E, Berti E, Cugno M, Marzano AV. New insights into the pathogenesis of bullous pemphigoid: 2019 update. Front Immunol. 2019;10:1506.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Koster J, Borradori L, Sonnenberg A. Hemidesmosomes: molecular organization and their importance for cell adhesion and disease. Handb Exp Pharmacol. 2004;165:243–80.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Jones VA, Patel PM, Gibson FT, Cordova A, Amber KT. The role of collagen XVII in cancer: squamous cell carcinoma and beyond. Front Oncol. 2020;10:352.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Makita E, Matsuzaki Y, Fukui T, Matsui A, Minakawa S, Nakano H, et al. Autoantibodies to BPAG1e trigger experimental bullous pemphigoid in mice. J Invest Dermatol. 2020.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Haeberle S, Wei X, Bieber K, Goletz S, Ludwig RJ, Schmidt E, et al. Regulatory T-cell deficiency leads to pathogenic bullous pemphigoid antigen 230 autoantibody and autoimmune bullous disease. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2018;142(6):1831–42. e7.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Amber KT, Valdebran M, Kridin K, Grando SA. The role of eosinophils in bullous pemphigoid: a developing model of eosinophil pathogenicity in mucocutaneous disease. Front Med (Lausanne). 2018;5:201.

    Google Scholar 

  29. de Graauw E, Sitaru C, Horn M, Borradori L, Yousefi S, Simon HU, et al. Evidence for a role of eosinophils in blister formation in bullous pemphigoid. Allergy. 2017;72(7):1105–13.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Murrell DF, Daniel BS, Joly P, Borradori L, Amagai M, Hashimoto T, et al. Definitions and outcome measures for bullous pemphigoid: recommendations by an international panel of experts. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2012;66(3):479–85.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Joly P, Roujeau JC, Benichou J, Picard C, Dreno B, Delaporte E, et al. A comparison of oral and topical corticosteroids in patients with bullous pemphigoid. N Engl J Med. 2002;346(5):321–7.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Patel PM, Jones VA, Murray TN, Amber KT. A review comparing international guidelines for the Management of Bullous Pemphigoid, pemphigoid Gestationis, mucous membrane pemphigoid, and epidermolysis bullosa Acquisita. Am J Clin Dermatol. 2020;21(4):557–65.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Williams HC, Wojnarowska F, Kirtschig G, Mason J, Godec TR, Schmidt E, et al. Doxycycline versus prednisolone as an initial treatment strategy for bullous pemphigoid: a pragmatic, non-inferiority, randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2017;389(10079):1630–8.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Feliciani C, Joly P, Jonkman MF, Zambruno G, Zillikens D, Ioannides D, et al. Management of bullous pemphigoid: the European dermatology forum consensus in collaboration with the European academy of dermatology and venereology. Br J Dermatol. 2015;172(4):867–77.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Sadik CD, Schmidt E. Resolution in bullous pemphigoid. Semin Immunopathol. 2019;41(6):645–54.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Seyed Jafari SM, Gadaldi K, Feldmeyer L, Yawalkar N, Borradori L, Schlapbach C. Effects of omalizumab on FcεRI and IgE expression in lesional skin of bullous pemphigoid. Front Immunol. 2019;10:1919.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Abdat R, Waldman RA, de Bedout V, Czernik A, McLeod M, King B, et al. Dupilumab as a novel therapy for bullous pemphigoid: a multicenter case series. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2020;83(1):46–52.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Seyed Jafari SM, Feldmeyer L, Bossart S, Simon D, Schlapbach C, Borradori L. Case report: combination of Omalizumab and Dupilumab for recalcitrant bullous pemphigoid. Front Immunol. 2020;11:611549.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kyle T. Amber .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Patel, P.M., Amber, K.T., Borradori, L. (2021). Bullous Pemphigoid. In: Schmidt, E. (eds) Diseases of the Oral Mucosa. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82804-2_21

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82804-2_21

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-82803-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-82804-2

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics