[Organ culture of skins from patients with benign familial chronic pemphigus].

Skin explants from 2 lesional skins and 3 normal appearing skins of patients with benign familial chronic pemphigus (BFCP) were organ cultured with and without various reagents. In the culture of involved skin, acantholysis which was also observed prior to culturing and which strengthened during the 72 hr culture, was not suppressed when betamethasone or retinol acetate was added to the medium. In the culture of un-involved skin explants with medium only, acantholysis was induced 24-48 hr after initiation of culture, and became apparent after 72 hr. Such experimentally induced acantholysis was almost completely suppressed by the addition of betamethasone, but not the addition of retinol acetate. These findings suggest that steroid has the efficacy to reduce blistering in BFCP, and that this in vitro model is useful for clarifying the pathogenesis as well as for discovering new drugs for the treatment of this disease.