Human and murine cutaneous graft-versus-host diseases. Potential models for the study of immunologically mediated skin diseases.

Cutaneous graft-versus-host disease in humans can be regarded as a potential model for the study of lymphocytotoxic reactions directed against the epidermis, and immunologically mediated cutaneous sclerosis. Toxic epidermal necrolysis and lichen planus are closely reproduced in graft-versus-host disease; sclerosis of chronic graft-versus-host disease cannot be regarded as strictly similar to any type of scleroderma. Sclerosis is the most consistently reproducible feature of cutaneous graft-versus-host disease in mouse chimeras; it offers the opportunity to study a dermal sclerosing reaction which may be considered as T cell dependent. Murine graft-versus-host disease presently appears debatable for use as a model of T cell dependent injury of the epidermis since stable established epidermal lesions are difficult to reproduce.