Basal cell cytoplasmic autoantibodies in oral lichenoid reactions.

One hundred sixty-one patients with a clinical diagnosis of an oral lichenoid reaction were evaluated serologically for circulating autoantibodies toward basal cell membrane components. The study group comprised 119 women and 42 men with a median age of 59 and 55 years, respectively. Most patients (n = 144) had an oral mucosal biopsy undertaken. Serologic investigation aimed to identify an IgG antibody that, under immunofluorescent staining, produced an annular fluorescence of basal cells and that has been referred to as basal cell cytoplasmic antibody. These basal cell cytoplasmic antibodies were significantly associated with systemic drug usage, histologic diagnosis of a lichenoid reaction, and a unilateral intraoral distribution of the clinical lesion. In the diagnosis of oral lichenoid reactions precipitated by drug therapy, the basal cell cytoplasmic phenomenon may be a useful adjunct to clinical and histologic investigation.