Expression of hair follicle stem cells detected by cytokeratin 15 stain: implications for pathogenesis of the scarring process in cutaneous lupus erythematosus

The bulge region appears to be involved in this disease as part of a broader involvement of the hair follicles; it is secondarily affected by the surrounding inflammatory cell infiltrate. Expression of C8/144B diminished and was then absent, indicating either damage to stem cells or differentiation to help in the repair process. Damage to follicular stem cells may help to explain the irreversible alopecia and the scarring process which characterize this disease.