TY - JOUR
T1 - Epidermal Langerhans cell involvement in cutaneous lupus erythematosus
AU - Sontheimer, R. D.
AU - Bergstresser, P. R.
N1 - Funding Information:
Manuscript. received November 10, 1981; accepted for publication March 1, 1982. This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grants AM-25563, AM-1910l and AM-00730. Dr. Sontheimer is Lhe recipient of a Clinical Investigator Award (AM-00730) from the National Institutes of HealLh. A preliminary report of this work was presented in abstract form at the Forty-second Annual Meeting of the Society of Investigative Dermatology in San Francisco, Ca., on April 27, 1981 (J Invest. Dermatol 76:309, 1981). Reprint requesLs to: R. D. Sontheimer, M.D., Div. of Dermatology, UTHSCD, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, Texas 75235. Abbreviations: ATPa e: adenosine triphosphatase CPM: counts per minute D-E: dermal-epidermal DLE: discoid lupus erythematosus FITC: fluorescein isothiocyanate HBSS: Hank's balanced salt soluLion IF: immunofluorescence LCs: Langerhans cells LE: Lupus erythematosus MECLR: mixed epidermal cell-lymphocyte reaction PBMC: peripheral blood mononuclear cells PBS: phosphate buffered saline SCLE: subacute cutaneous lupus eryLhematosus SI: stimulation index Five sepru'ate 7-mm diameter vacuum-induced blisters were raised simultaneously over smgically prepared lesional and contiguous nonle-sional skin with a Dermovac unit (In trumentru'ium, Helsinki, Finland). In 3 SCLE and 2 DLE patients, nonlesional epidermis was taken ~rom the same anatomic region as lesional epidermis. In the other 2 patients (1 with papulosquamous SCLE and 1 with annulal' SCLE) it was necessary Lo obtain nonlesional epidermis from fiexor rather than extensor aspects of their forearms because of the extensive confiuence of lesions over the extensor smfaces. In 2 SCLE patients both lesional and nonlesional epidermis was obtained from their upper backs, a 237
PY - 1982
Y1 - 1982
N2 - Epidermal Langerhans cells (LCs) possess surface markers and functional attributes which identify them as being of macrophage/monocyte lineage, and recent evidence documents their participation in certain immune process which occur in skin. To assess the role of LCs in lupus erythematosus (LE), a disease in which immune system dysfunction predominates, human epidermis from patients with cutaneous LE was studied with 3 LC surface markers: ATPase activity, HLA-DR and OKT-6 antigens. Suction blister top epidermal skin biopsies from patients with 3 clinical types of cutaneous LE exhibited similar features: LCs were less dendritic, they were more irregularly distributed, and they were present in fewer numbers when compared with those in adjacent normal skin. These changes contrasted with those observed in diseases with similar lichenoid histopathological features. LCs appeared increased in number in lichen planus. LCs in skin lesions from one patient with dermatomyositis exhibited similar morphologic alterations, but surface densities and distributions were preserved. Disaggregated epidermal cells from skin lesions of patients with cutaneous LE induced allogeneic lymphocyte proliferation as efficiently as did cells from nonlesional skin, indicating that the morphologic alterations observed were not associated with a decreased alloantigen presenting capacity. These studies have demonstrated that epidermal LC populations in 3 clinical types of cutaneous LE are perturbed in a manner not seen in 2 other lichenoid skin diseases, although these changes were not associated with an altered capacity of such cells to stimulate proliferation by allogeneic lymphocytes.
AB - Epidermal Langerhans cells (LCs) possess surface markers and functional attributes which identify them as being of macrophage/monocyte lineage, and recent evidence documents their participation in certain immune process which occur in skin. To assess the role of LCs in lupus erythematosus (LE), a disease in which immune system dysfunction predominates, human epidermis from patients with cutaneous LE was studied with 3 LC surface markers: ATPase activity, HLA-DR and OKT-6 antigens. Suction blister top epidermal skin biopsies from patients with 3 clinical types of cutaneous LE exhibited similar features: LCs were less dendritic, they were more irregularly distributed, and they were present in fewer numbers when compared with those in adjacent normal skin. These changes contrasted with those observed in diseases with similar lichenoid histopathological features. LCs appeared increased in number in lichen planus. LCs in skin lesions from one patient with dermatomyositis exhibited similar morphologic alterations, but surface densities and distributions were preserved. Disaggregated epidermal cells from skin lesions of patients with cutaneous LE induced allogeneic lymphocyte proliferation as efficiently as did cells from nonlesional skin, indicating that the morphologic alterations observed were not associated with a decreased alloantigen presenting capacity. These studies have demonstrated that epidermal LC populations in 3 clinical types of cutaneous LE are perturbed in a manner not seen in 2 other lichenoid skin diseases, although these changes were not associated with an altered capacity of such cells to stimulate proliferation by allogeneic lymphocytes.
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U2 - 10.1111/1523-1747.ep12500069
DO - 10.1111/1523-1747.ep12500069
M3 - Article
C2 - 6215451
AN - SCOPUS:0019958437
SN - 0022-202X
VL - 79
SP - 237
EP - 243
JO - Journal of Investigative Dermatology
JF - Journal of Investigative Dermatology
IS - 4
ER -