Korean J Dermatol.
1993 Jun;31(3):329-336.
The significance of lectins in the differentiation between lichen sclerosus et atrophicus(LSA)and scleroderma
Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Differential diagnosis of lichen sclerosus et atrophicus( SA) and scleroderma is occasionally difficult.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to attempt differentiation between the two diseases using imrnunohistochemical stain and lectins. MEHTODS: Paraffin-embeddred sections of 4 cases of LSA and 11 cases of scleroderma were evaluated for this study. Using lectins, such as peanut agglutinin(PNA), siybean agglutinin(SBA), Ulex europaeus agglutinin-I(UEA-I) and Dolichos biflorus agglutinin(DBA) and the avidin-biotin-peroxi-dase complex(ABC) technique, differential lectin binding patterns betv een the two diseases were examined.
RESULTS
In the case of LSA, PNA and SBA stained the upper and lower spinous layer of the epidermis, and UEA I also stained the spinous layer of the epidermis weakly, but no DBA was stained. In the case of scleroderma, PNA stained not only the spinous layer but also the basal layer, SBA stained the upper half of the spinous layer but not the lower half of the pinous layer of epidermis. But UEA-I stained the vascular endothelial cells of dermis instead of epidermis, and DBA stained only the basal layer of epidermis.
CONCLUSION
Staining of these 4 lectins on paraffin-embedded sectians using ABC teehnique could be helpful in differenting LSA and scleroderma.
