A 61-year-old Caucasian female with the tetrad chronic mucocutaneous eandidiasis, myositis, thymoma, and alopecia* consulted because of one of her periodic excacerbations of oral yeast infection.Clinically, there were thiek white patches ( Fig. 1) involving about 50% of the surface of the oral mucosa.Histopathologically, a parakeratotie epithelium was heavily invaded by pseudohyphae, blastospores, and cblamydospores of Candida albicans. Tbese features were observed in histological sections and by transmission eleetron microscopy.** Scanning electron microscopy was used to provide new information on the surfaces of the lesions and the two type of microorganistns associated with the surfaces. The larger microorganisms were yeasts, Candida albicans (Ca), whieh penetrated the scale-like epitbelial cells (Fig. 2). The smaller, more numerous microorganisms were bacteria (B) which did not penetrate the cells but remained on the surfaces of the scales(s).

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Antibodies prepared against the collagen C-chain derived from human placenta specifically strain the epidermal basement membrane of normal human skin as well as the basement membrane surrounding the skin appendages and capillaries. Using the antibodies, it was observed that all basement membranes in untreated psoriatic plaques appear fragmented and separted into several layers. The results suggest that psoriatic lesions are associated with a general loss of basement membrane integrity which may play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of the disease.