[Studies on delayed skin reactivity to streptococci in Behçet's disease]

Delayed type hypersensitivity of patients with Behçet's disease was investigated by intradermal skin test and prick test, using various inactivated microorganisms as antigens. In the intradermal skin test, 13 patients showed significantly increased skin reactivity to E. faecalis, compared with 5 normal controls. No significant differences were observed between these two groups in terms of reaction to S. pyogenes. Prick test was performed in 11 patients and 6 controls, using S. pyogenes, S. sanguis, S. salivarius and E. faecalis as antigens. It was shown that patients with this disease had significantly greater skin reactions to crude cell wall antigens, as well as to whole cell antigens of these streptococci than the controls. The antigenicity of streptococci seemed to be present mainly in the cell wall fragment, and these streptococci seemed to have cross reactivity with each other. These results suggest that streptococci may have some significant role in the immunopathogenesis of this disease.