The Elevated Level of Osteopontin in Patients With Pemphigus Vulgaris: A Cytokine-Like Protein With a Therapeutic Potential Publisher Pubmed



Ketabi Y¹ ; Nasiri S¹ ; Kheirodin M¹ ; Tavakolpour S² ; Mozafari N^{1, 3}
Source: Dermatologic Therapy Published:2019

Abstract

Background: Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is a life-threatening autoimmune disease with no certain treatment. Anticytokine therapy is being increasingly discussed in multiple autoimmune diseases. Osteopontin (OPN) is a glycoprotein produced by a variety of immune cells. Increased OPN serum levels have been reported in several autoimmune diseases, with targeting OPN considered as a promising therapy in these diseases. However, the role of OPN in PV has not been well studied so far. Objective: To investigate whether OPN level is elevated in PV patients in the active stage of the disease and to examine its possible relationship with disease severity and anti-desmoglein (anti-Dsg) antibodies levels. Materials and Methods: This study included 53 consecutive subjects affected by PV and 38 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Clinical characteristics and Autoimmune Bullous Skin Disorder Intensity Score (ABSIS) were assessed. Serum OPN levels (pg/mL) and anti-Dsg antibodies were also measured. Results: The serum OPN level of the patient group proved to be statistically higher than that of the control group (11.08 ± 5.24 vs 8.47 ± 5.68; p =.02). No significant relationship were detected between the serum OPN level and anti-Dsg1 or anti-Dsg3 antibodies (r = 0.1, p =.2 and r = 0.1, p =.4), respectively. In addition, no correlation was found between serum OPN levels and severity of PV as measured by ABSIS (r = 0.08 and p =.5). Conclusion: The growth observed in OPN levels in pemphigus patients suggests the role of OPN in pemphigus pathogenesis, but there is a need for more extensive studies to show how OPN can be associated with the PV pathogenesis and whether OPN could be used as an important therapeutic target in pemphigus disease. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.