[Immunofluorescent and morphologic studies in Bekhterev's disease (preliminary findings)]

Fourteen skin biopsies (taken from the lumbosacral region) of patients with Bekhterev's disease were studied. Some histological changes in the connective tissue of the skin were followed up. Deposited immunogenic matters in the skin structures and the presence of circulating (serum) autoantibodies were looked for by immunofluorescence. In seven patients--a normal histological skin picture was established. A light to moderate subepidermal edema was observed in the rest of the biopsies as well as a tendency to focal homogenization and fragmentation of the collagen fibres, hyperemia, dilation and thickening of some vascular walls in hypoderm. Little parivascular cellular infiltrations were also found, composed of lymphocytes, macrophages, fibroblasts and plasmocytes. Via immunofluorescence, gamma globulins deposited in the vascular basal membranes were established in two patients and in three patients--circulating antinuclear autoantibodies. Immunological mechanisms are admitted to also play a role in the pathogenesis of some clinical forms of Bekhterev's disease.