Histochemical Study of Bullous Dermatoses

III. Basement Membrane

Abstract

1. The changes of subepidermal basement membrane were studied histochemically.
2. In the normal skin, there was a PAS-positive, regularly shaped membrane, which was hyaluronidase-resistant. The membrane was stained only feebly with Alcian blue, but was not metachromatic. After sulfation, both the Alcian blue-positive membrane and the metachromatic membrane appeared to show the similar pattern to the PAS-positive membrane at the dermo-epidermal junction.
3. In pemphigus vulgaris, the basement membrane was not changed, with the exception of the pronouncedly infiltrated area.
4. In erythema exudativum multiforme and dermatitis herpetiformis DUHRING, each the PAS-positive membrane partly lacked its homogeneous component, while it appeared to remain on the tops of the dermal surface of the bulla floor. No membrane was demonstrated at that area with either Alcian blue or toluidine blue, even after sulfation.