Microarray gene expression data from human plucked hair follicles as a novel method to diagnose Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus of the Scalp

When faced with clinical symptoms of scarring alopecia the standard diagnostic pathway involves a scalp biopsy which is an invasive and expensive procedure. Furthermore, clinical activity of scarring alopecias is often difficult to assess as symptoms of permanent damage and signs of activity can overlap or be difficult to distinguish. Here we report that gene expression analysis of only a small number of hair follicles (HF) plucked from lesional areas of the scalp is sufficient to characterise chronic discoid lupus erythematosus (CDLE). Lesional and non-lesional HFs were extracted from the scalp of patients with CDLE, psoriasis and healthy controls. The expression profile from CDLE HFs coincides with published profiles of CDLE from skin biopsy and was consistent with histopathological diagnostic features of CDLE.

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