Aberrant lymphocyte trafficking in murine systemic lupus erythematosus.

The patterns of migration of lymphoid cells from autoimmune-prone MRL-lpr/lpr, C57BL/6-lpr/lpr, MRL-+/+, and NZB mice were compared to those from sex and age-matched, normal CBA, C57BL/6, and BALB/C mice. Chromium-51-labelled spleen and lymph node cells from all autoimmune mice tested homed preferentially to the spleen relative to lymph node of the recipient strain. The data indicate that defects in lymphocyte trafficking are widespread in murine lupus and suggest a role for abnormal lymphocyte migration in the pathogenesis of this disease.