Objective: Current evidence has revealed a significant association between
bullous pemphigoid (BP) and neurological diseases (ND), including
stroke, but the incidence of BP
autoantibodies in patients with
stroke has not previously been investigated. Our study aimed to assess BP
antigen-specific
antibodies in
stroke patients. Design: One hundred patients with
stroke and 100 matched healthy controls were randomly selected for measurement of anti-BP180/BP230
IgG autoantibodies by
enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay (ELISA),
salt-split indirect immunofluorescence (IIF), and immunoblotting against human cutaneous BP180 and BP180-NC16A. Results: Anti-BP180
autoantibodies were found in 14 (14.0%) patients with
stroke and 5 (5.0%) of controls by ELISA (p < 0.05). Sera from 13 (13.0%) patients with
stroke and 3 (3.0%) controls reacted with 180-kDa
proteins from human epidermal extract (p < 0.05). 11 (11.0%) of
stroke and 2 (2.0%) of control sera recognized the human recombinant full length BP180 and NC16A (p < 0.05). The anti-BP180-positive patients were significantly younger than the negative patients at the time of
stroke (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Development of anti-BP180
autoantibodies occurs at a higher frequency after
stroke, suggesting BP180 as a relatively common
autoantigen after
stroke and providing novel insights into BP pathogenesis in aging.