Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D P Du Plessis.
A patient with a fracture of the left femur was investigated for suspected multiple myeloma. Serum total proteins, protein electrophoresis, and immunoglobulin G, A and M levels were within normal limits. Bence Jones proteinuria of the lambda type was present. Subsequent investigations revealed the presence of IgD myeloma.
Indirect immunofluorescence microscopy using serum and lesional skin revealed a lichen planus specific antigen (LPSA) in 80% of patients with lichen planus. This antigen is found only in the stratum granulosum and stratum spinosum. It was demonstrated in skin lesions in Caucasians and Negroes in South Africa and the U.S.A. but was not found in the skin of normal people or patients with other dermatoses. Indirect immunofluorescence should prove useful in distinguishing atypical forms of lichen planus from other dermatoses.