Apoptosis in feathers of Smyth line chickens with autoimmune vitiligo

IFN-γ, IL-21, and IL-10 Co-Expression in Evolving Autoimmune Vitiligo Lesions of Smyth Line Chickens

“…Moreover, while both alpha-beta and gamma-delta T cells infiltrated, the infiltration of alpha-beta T cells was proportionately greater during active SLV (Table 1), an observation consistent with previous reports (Erf et al, 1995; Shresta et al, 1997). Also in line with previous reports on S LV (Erf et al, 1995; Wang and Erf, 2004) and in vitiligo patients (Le Gal et al, 2001; Le Poole et al, 1996), the current study showed the predominance of CD8+ compared to CD4+ cells at all vitiligo states (Table 1). Predominance of cytotoxic lymphocytes in active SLV lesions, their close juxtaposition and aggregation around apoptotic melanocytes (Wang and Erf, 2004), together with macrophage infiltration at early and active stages of SLV, further supports a Th1-mediated, melanocyte-specific cellular response in SLV.…”

“…Similar to human autoimmune vitiligo, both humoral and cellular immunity have been implicated in SLV, with a more prominent role attributed to cellular immunity in melanocyte loss based on phenotypical analysis of infiltrating-leukocytes (Erf et al, 1995; Shresta et al, 1997; Wang and Erf, 2004) and observation of interferon-gamma expression in feather samples collected from SL chickens with active SLV (Shi et al, 2009; Wang, 2001). Moreover, the presence of melanocytes-specific cell-mediated immunity was demonstrated in vivo based on the delayed wattle-swelling response to injection of syngeneic melanocyte lysates in chickens with SLV (Wang and Erf, 2003).…”

“…While phenotypic analyses of infiltrating cells in cross-sections of active lesions and in feather pulp cell suspensions support a more prominent role of cell-mediated immunity in melanocyte loss in S LV (Erf et al, 1995; Shresta et al, 1997; Wang and Erf, 2004), immune functional activities associated with SLV development have not been examined. The objective of this study was to monitor cytokine gene expression and determine leukocyte infiltration profiles in feather tips (Figure 1a) collected over the course of SLV development from SLV chickens.…”

Physiopathology and genetics of vitiligo

“…Recent data strongly suggest that the mechanism involved in the death of melanocytes in Smyth line vitiligo is an apoptosis induced by infiltrating cytotoxic T lymphocytes [17]. Interestingly, a strong causative link between herpes virus and Smyth line vitiligo has been reported, supporting the role of environmental factors in the expression of vitiligo in these chickens [18].…”

Genetic variants for chick biology research: from breeds to mutants

“…Physiological mutants and defects studied in chicken serve as important experimental models for human conditions (see Pisenti et al 1999, Dodgson andRomanov, 2004). Well-studied disorders have included autoimmune vitiligo (Wang and Erf, 2004), scleroderma (Zhang and Gilliam, 2002), thyroiditis (Vasicek et al, 2001), scoliosis (Mochida et al, 1993), muscular dystrophy (Yoshizawa et al, 2003), sex-linked and autosomal dwarfing (Hutt, 1959;Agarwal et al, 1994;Tanaka et al, 1995;Ruyter-Spira et al, 1998;Cole, 2000). Pisenti et al (1999) document the loss of literally hundred of stocks over a 15 year period (http://www.grcp.…”