J. Desbarats et al., IRRADIATION OF THE SKIN AND SYSTEMIC GRAFT-VERSUS-HOST DISEASE SYNERGIZE TO PRODUCE CUTANEOUS LESIONS, The American journal of pathology, 144(5), 1994, pp. 883-888
In this report, the relationship between irradiation and graft-versus-
host disease (GVHD)-induced cutaneous injury was investigated Unirradi
ated F1 hybrid mice were grafted with irradiated skin and then injecte
d with parental strain lymphoid cells to induce GVHD. Although low gra
de dermal lymphoid infiltrates were observed is unirradiated skin graf
ts of some GVH-reactive mice, and irradiated grafts of normal animals
showed occasional fibrosis, only the irradiated grafts of GVH-reactive
mice developed lesions consisting of vacuolar degeneration of the epi
dermal-dermaljunction and necrotic keratinocytes accompanied by pronou
nced epidermal infiltrates, characteristic of clinical cutaneous GVHD.
The results suggest that cutaneous irradiation exerts a permissive ef
fect on lesion formation in the skin of mice undergoing GVHD. Furtherm
ore, systemic irradiation, known to exacerbate the severity of GVHD, i
s not required. Cutaneous lesions may be triggered by radiation injury
of keratinocytes, up-regulation of adhesion molecules on irradiated e
ndothelium, destruction of protective radiosensitive intraepithelial l
ymphocytes, and radiation-induced priming of intradermal macrophages.