Immunoglobulin E levels in the sera of patients with pemphigus (12 with Brazilian pemphigus foliaceus (BPF) and 11 with pemphigus vulgaris (PV)) were determined by means of a solid phase radioimmunoassay. A significant increase in IgE level was observed in BPF patients compared to the level of IgE in PV patients and healthy adults. The implications of an elevated level of IgE with respect to other aberrations of immunologic responsiveness and the suggested infectious etiology of BPF are considered.

No abstract