Plucked hair follicles from patients with chronic discoid lupus erythematosus show a disease-specific molecular signature

Objective When faced with clinical symptoms of scarring alopecia—the standard diagnostic pathway involves a scalp biopsy which is an invasive and expensive procedure. This project aimed to assess if plucked hair follicles (HFs) containing living epithelial cells can offer a non-invasive approach to...

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Main Authors: Miriam Wittmann, Edward M Vital, Mohammad Shalbaf, Adewonuola A Alase, Anna Berekmeri, Md Yuzaiful Md Yusof, Jelena Pistolic, Mark J Goodfield, Sara Edward, Natalia V Botchkareva, Martin Stacey
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2019-12-01
Series:Lupus Science and Medicine
Online Access:https://lupus.bmj.com/content/6/1/e000328.full
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author Miriam Wittmann
Edward M Vital
Mohammad Shalbaf
Adewonuola A Alase
Anna Berekmeri
Md Yuzaiful Md Yusof
Jelena Pistolic
Mark J Goodfield
Sara Edward
Natalia V Botchkareva
Martin Stacey
author_facet Miriam Wittmann
Edward M Vital
Mohammad Shalbaf
Adewonuola A Alase
Anna Berekmeri
Md Yuzaiful Md Yusof
Jelena Pistolic
Mark J Goodfield
Sara Edward
Natalia V Botchkareva
Martin Stacey
author_sort Miriam Wittmann
collection DOAJ
description Objective When faced with clinical symptoms of scarring alopecia—the standard diagnostic pathway involves a scalp biopsy which is an invasive and expensive procedure. This project aimed to assess if plucked hair follicles (HFs) containing living epithelial cells can offer a non-invasive approach to diagnosing inflammatory scalp lesions.Methods Lesional and non-lesional HFs were extracted from the scalp of patients with chronic discoid lupus erythematosus (CDLE), psoriasis and healthy controls. RNA was isolated from plucked anagen HFs and microarray, as well as quantitative real-time PCR was performed.Results Here, we report that gene expression analysis of only a small number of HF plucked from lesional areas of the scalp is sufficient to differentiate CDLE from psoriasis lesions or healthy HF. The expression profile from CDLE HFs coincides with published profiles of CDLE from skin biopsy. Genes that were highly expressed in lesional CDLE corresponded to well-known histopathological diagnostic features of CDLE and included those related to apoptotic cell death, the interferon signature, complement components and CD8+ T-cell immune responses.Conclusions We therefore propose that information obtained from this non-invasive approach are sufficient to diagnose scalp lupus erythematosus. Once validated in routine clinical settings and compared with other scarring alopecias, this rapid and non-invasive approach will have great potential for paving the way for future diagnosis of inflammatory scalp lesions.
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spelling doaj-art-a8ae8b54b5b041a7be24d77de02c63ac2024-12-16T01:45:09ZengBMJ Publishing GroupLupus Science and Medicine2053-87902019-12-016110.1136/lupus-2019-000328Plucked hair follicles from patients with chronic discoid lupus erythematosus show a disease-specific molecular signatureMiriam Wittmann0Edward M Vital1Mohammad Shalbaf2Adewonuola A Alase3Anna Berekmeri4Md Yuzaiful Md Yusof5Jelena Pistolic6Mark J Goodfield7Sara Edward8Natalia V Botchkareva9Martin Stacey102NIHR Leeds Biomedical Research Centre, Leeds, United KingdomLeeds Institue of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UKLeeds Institue of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UKLeeds Institue of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK1University of Leeds, Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, Leeds, United KingdomLeeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UKGenomics Core Facility, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, GermanyDepartment of Dermatology, Leeds Teaching Hospitals, Leeds, UKDepartment of Histopathology, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds, UKCentre for Skin Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK1 University of Leeds, Leeds, UKObjective When faced with clinical symptoms of scarring alopecia—the standard diagnostic pathway involves a scalp biopsy which is an invasive and expensive procedure. This project aimed to assess if plucked hair follicles (HFs) containing living epithelial cells can offer a non-invasive approach to diagnosing inflammatory scalp lesions.Methods Lesional and non-lesional HFs were extracted from the scalp of patients with chronic discoid lupus erythematosus (CDLE), psoriasis and healthy controls. RNA was isolated from plucked anagen HFs and microarray, as well as quantitative real-time PCR was performed.Results Here, we report that gene expression analysis of only a small number of HF plucked from lesional areas of the scalp is sufficient to differentiate CDLE from psoriasis lesions or healthy HF. The expression profile from CDLE HFs coincides with published profiles of CDLE from skin biopsy. Genes that were highly expressed in lesional CDLE corresponded to well-known histopathological diagnostic features of CDLE and included those related to apoptotic cell death, the interferon signature, complement components and CD8+ T-cell immune responses.Conclusions We therefore propose that information obtained from this non-invasive approach are sufficient to diagnose scalp lupus erythematosus. Once validated in routine clinical settings and compared with other scarring alopecias, this rapid and non-invasive approach will have great potential for paving the way for future diagnosis of inflammatory scalp lesions.https://lupus.bmj.com/content/6/1/e000328.full
spellingShingle Miriam Wittmann
Edward M Vital
Mohammad Shalbaf
Adewonuola A Alase
Anna Berekmeri
Md Yuzaiful Md Yusof
Jelena Pistolic
Mark J Goodfield
Sara Edward
Natalia V Botchkareva
Martin Stacey
Plucked hair follicles from patients with chronic discoid lupus erythematosus show a disease-specific molecular signature
Lupus Science and Medicine
title Plucked hair follicles from patients with chronic discoid lupus erythematosus show a disease-specific molecular signature
title_full Plucked hair follicles from patients with chronic discoid lupus erythematosus show a disease-specific molecular signature
title_fullStr Plucked hair follicles from patients with chronic discoid lupus erythematosus show a disease-specific molecular signature
title_full_unstemmed Plucked hair follicles from patients with chronic discoid lupus erythematosus show a disease-specific molecular signature
title_short Plucked hair follicles from patients with chronic discoid lupus erythematosus show a disease-specific molecular signature
title_sort plucked hair follicles from patients with chronic discoid lupus erythematosus show a disease specific molecular signature
url https://lupus.bmj.com/content/6/1/e000328.full
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