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ABSTRACT
The pemphigus complex is an autoimmune skin disease of dogs and cats that can present in a variety of forms and can be a challenging disease to manage and treat. There are 4 main subtypes: pemphigus foliaceus,
pemphigus erythematosus, pemphigus vulgaris and pemphigus vegetans.
More recently, other variants has been described: the paraneoplastic pemphigus and the panepidermal pustular pemphigus. All these forms are characterized by acantholysis, which is the breakdown of the
epidermal intercellular desmosomal connections with separated keratinocytes becoming acantholytic cells, caused by the intercellular deposition of autoantibodies against specific antigens of desmosomes.
The most current commonly used therapeutics are: glucocorticoids, azathioprine, chlorambucil, tetracycline and niacinamide; there are also alternative therapeutics (cyclosporine, tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil) and additional alternative therapeutics (cyclophosphamide, chrysotherapy, dapsone, sulfasalazine and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy) for the control of this disease.
KEYWORDS: pemphigus acantholysis
immunosuppressive therapy
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