Autoantibodies From Patients With BSLE Inducing Recruitment of Leukocytes to the Dermoepidermal Junction and Subepidermal Splits in Cryosections of Human Skin

Bullous systemic lupus erythematosus (BSLE) and epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA) are subepidermal blistering diseases associated with autoimmunity against type VII collagen.¹ The criteria for the diagnosis of BSLE include (1) a diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), (2) a nonscarring vesiculobullous eruption, (3) subepidermal blisters with a neutrophil-rich infiltrate in the papillary dermis, (4) deposition of immunoreactants at the epidermal basement membrane, and (5) immunoglobulin deposits at or beneath the lamina densa seen by immunoelectron microscopy.²