Plucked Hair Follicles From Patients With Chronic Discoid Lupus Erythematosus Show a Disease-Specific Molecular Signature
July 2019
in “
Lupus Science & Medicine
”
TLDR Plucked hair follicles can help diagnose scalp lupus.
The study investigated whether plucked hair follicles could serve as a non-invasive diagnostic tool for inflammatory scalp lesions, specifically in patients with chronic discoid lupus erythematosus (CDLE). By analyzing gene expression in hair follicles from lesional and non-lesional areas of patients with CDLE, psoriasis, and healthy controls, researchers found that the expression profile of CDLE hair follicles matched known profiles from skin biopsies. Key genes related to apoptotic cell death, the interferon signature, complement components, and CD8+ T-cell immune responses were identified. The study concluded that this non-invasive method could effectively diagnose scalp lupus erythematosus and, once validated, could be a promising tool for diagnosing inflammatory scalp conditions.