Abstract: Yang Min*, Zhu Yinghua, Cui Hongyan, Zhao Yan, Wang Huixiang. *Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116021, China Corresponding author: Zhu Yinghua, Email: zyh-office@163.com 【Abstract】 Objective To study the role of CXC chemokine receptor 5 （CXCR5） in the pathogenesis of bullous pemphigoid （BP） by detecting the expression of CXCR5 on follicular helper T （Tfh） cells in skin lesions of BP. Methods An immunohistochemical procedure was used to detect CXCR5 expression in biopsy specimens from skin lesions of 16 patients with BP and normal skin of 10 healthy individuals. Results CXCR5 was mainly expressed in the cytoplasm and membrane of Tfh cells in the basal cell layer of normal skin as well as in both basal cell layer and prickle cell layer of BP lesions. The number of CXCR5-positive cells per high power field （× 400） was 11.16 ± 4.47 in normal skin specimens, significantly lower than that in lesional skin specimens （35.70 ± 12.20, t = 6.07, P < 0.01）. Conclusion CXCR5 may be involved in the pathogenesis of BP.

Key words: Pemphigoid, bullous, Receptors, chemokine, Follicular helper T lymphocytes