AUTOIMMUNE HAIR LOSS (ALOPECIA-AREATA) TRANSFERRED BY T-LYMPHOCYTES TO HUMAN SCALP EXPLANTS ON SCID MICE

Alopecia areata is a tissue-restricted autoimmune disease of the hair follicle, which results in hair loss and baldness. It is often psychol ogically devastating. The role of T lymphocytes in this disorder was i nvestigated with cell transfer experiments, Scalp explants from patien ts were transplanted to severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice a nd injected with autologous T lymphocytes isolated from involved scalp . T lymphocytes which had been cultured with hair follicle homogenate along with antigen-presenting cells were capable of inducing the chang es of alopecia areata, including hair loss and perifollicular infiltra tes of T cells, along with HLA-DR and ICAM-1 expression of the follicu lar epithelium, Similar changes were not noted in grafts injected with scalp-derived T cells that had not been cultured with follicular homo genate, These data indicate that alopecia areata is mediated by T cell s which recognize a follicular autoantigen.