Clinical and Laboratory Risk Factors of Alopecia Areata

Background: Alopecia areata (AA) is an organ-specific autoimmune disease characterized by T-cell infiltrates and cytokine production around anagen-stage hair follicles. Several observations support this hypothesis. The aim of the current work was to study some of the risk factors in AA and the correlation between them in a trial to clarify their possible role in the pathogenesis and the prognosis of such a disease. Patients and Methods: Forty Patients complaining of AA of more than 2 months duration were recruited from the Dermatology out patient clinic (OPC) of Kasr Al-Aini Hospitals and assessed for the extent of AA using the Severity of Alopecia Tool (SALT) score. A 4-mm skin biopsy was taken to determine tissue levels of interferon gamma (IFN-y). Results: The baseline mean SALT showed a significantly positive correlation with the disease duration (r=0.430, p=0.01), the mean SALT showed a tendency towards positive correlation with the tissue levels of IFN-y. Conclusion: This study showed the importance of SALT score in cases of Alopecia Areata. It further highlights the role of IFN-gamma as a useful indicator of the activity of AA and that it may play an important role in the development of this disease.