Chronic Delayed-Type Hypersensitivity Reaction as a Means to Treat Alopecia Areata
February 2004
in “
Clinical & Experimental Immunology
”
TLDR SADBE treatment led to complete hair regrowth in mice with alopecia areata by altering immune cell movement.
The study investigated the use of squaric acid dibutylester (SADBE) to treat alopecia areata (AA) in C3H/HeJ mice, demonstrating complete hair regrowth on treated areas. The treatment appeared to work by altering leukocyte traffic, specifically reducing skin-infiltrating leukocytes and increasing their numbers in draining lymph nodes. This effect was attributed to impaired recruitment of autoreactive T cells, rather than changes in regulatory T cells or cytokine expression. The study highlighted the role of CD44v3 and CD44v10 in leukocyte recruitment, suggesting that their retention in lymph nodes could be a key mechanism in the therapeutic effect of SADBE for AA.