Clinical and laboratory evaluation of hemocarboadsorption in autoimmune bullous dermatoses.

Hemocarboadsorption (HCA) with the following immunosuppressive therapy was used to treat 48 patients with pemphigus vulgaris (PV) and 31 patients with bullous pemphigoid (BP) in the acute phase. The levels of autoantibodies, eicosanoids, endoproteases and their inhibitors as well as interleukin (IL) 1 and IL 2 production and absorption of exogenous IL 2 were examined in the treatment dynamics. The therapeutic effect of HCA was displayed in prompt disease remission in 43 PV and 29 BP patients. Clinical improvement was accompanied by antibody elimination and interleukin cascade reaction normalization. HCA resulted in growth of patients' serum immunosuppressive activity. It was concluded that HCA has some immunoregulatory effect (Int J Artif Organs; 1990: 13: 181-88).