ALOPECIA-AREATA BUT NOT ANDROGENETIC ALOPECIA IS CHARACTERIZED BY A RESTRICTED AND OLIGOCLONAL T-CELL RECEPTOR-REPERTOIRE AMONG INFILTRATING LYMPHOCYTES

Although the etiology of alopecia areata is still unknown, evidence ha s accumulated to support an autoimmune pathogenesis for this disease. To evaluate the role of T cells in alopecia areata the T-cell receptor VB-repertoire was investigated in lesional skin and blood of 5 patien ts by means of a semiquantitative technique based on the. reverse tran scriptase polymerase chain reaction. Three patients with androgenetic alopecia served as controls. Amplification products were screened for clonality by temperature gradient gel electrophoresis. Four of 5 patie nts with alopecia areata exhibited a lesional T-cell receptor-repertoi re characterized by an almost exclusive utilization of variable region s beta2, 4, and 13. Temperature gradient gel electrophoresis revealed the oligoclonal constitution of the infiltrate. The restricted nature of the lesional T-lymphocytic infiltrate in alopecia areata strongly s uggests that an antigen-specific T-cell response plays an important ro le in the pathogenesis of this disease.