Failure to Transfer Bullous Pemphigoid with Serum from Patients

Three rhesus monkeys were transfused with plasma from three different patients with pemphigoid. The antibody was bound firmly to the basement membrane zone, as determined by direct immunofluorescence, but no clinical or histologic lesions were produced. Even traumatizing the skin when antibody binding was maximal failed to produce lesions. These experiments cast doubt on the direct role of pemphigoid antibody in the pathogenesis of this disease.