Dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) is a chronic, polymorphic, pruritic skin disease that develops mostly in patients with latent gluten-sensitive enteropathy. There is an association with the genotypes HLA DR3, HLA DQw2, found in 80-90% of cases. Owing to the granular immunoglobulin (Ig) A deposition at the tips of the papillary dermis and to the subepidermal blister formation associated with neutrophilic accumulations underlying the basement membrane, DH is considered to be an autoimmune blistering disease.
