BACKGROUND Alopecia areata is a chronic disorder of the hair follicles and nails, of unknown etiology, with clear autoimmune components and genetic factors. Several therapeutic options have been suggested; however, no treatment is able to modify the disease course. Methotrexate is an immunosuppressant used in various dermatoses and recently introduced as a therapeutic option for alopecia areata...

Introduction: Alopecia areata is a common clinical problem involving 1% of population. It is associated with many autoimmune disorders. One of the most common associations is autoimmune thyroid disease. So it seems necessary to examine the patients with alopecia areata more exactly. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate thyroid gland dysfunction in patients with alopecia areata. Mate...

Alopecia areata is one of the most common autoimmune diseases resulting from T cell-mediated damage of hair follicles. CD8+ T cells infiltrate hair follicles and are responsible for destruction of hair follicles. However the underlying mechanisms for hair loss remain still obscure. In the present study, we identified that suppressor of cytokine signaling-3 (SOCS3), a classical inhibitor of cyto...

Objective: To study of relationship between alopecia areata and finger print dermatoglyphic types in 100 patients with alopecia areata and in 100 controls. Methods: A case control analytical study was done on fingerprints of patients with alopecia areata. The control cases were older than 50 years old without any history of alopecia areata. Dermatoglyphical trials of total fingers were al...

Topical immunotherapy with diphencyprone (DPCP) for the treatment of severe alopecia areata has been used since 1983 and is felt to be the treatment of choice by many dermatologists. Although there have been no major side effects reported since its initial use, there remain some unknowns regarding its safety. Because DPCP has at least a 40% success rate for cosmetically acceptable regrowth in e...

The autosomal dominantly inherited hair disorder pili annulati is characterized by alternating light and dark bands of the hair shaft. Concomitant manifestation of pili annulati with alopecia areata has been reported previously on several occasions. However, no systematic evaluation of patients manifesting both diseases has been performed. We studied the simultaneous or sequential occurrence of...

BACKGROUND Alopecia areata is marked by autoimmune assault on the hair follicle resulting in hair loss. T helper 17 cell subset has important roles in protecting the host against extracellular pathogens, however, also promotes inflammatory pathology in autoimmune disease, and it expresses both interleukin (IL)-17A and IL-17F, which can signal via the IL-17 receptor A. OBJECTIVE To investigate...

Diffuse alopecia is mainly caused by telogen effluvium, diffuse androgenetic alopecia (female-pattern hair loss) and diffuse alopecia areata. Differential diagnosis between the three disorders may be difficult in several occasions. In this second part of our study, chronic telogen effluvium and diffuse alopecia areata are discussed in detail, including clinical, dermoscopic and histological asp...

Alopecia areata (AA) is an inflammatory and autoimmune disease presenting with non-scarring hair loss. The aethiopathogenesis of alopecia areata is unclear and many factors including autoimmunity, genetic predisposition, emotional and environmental stress are thought to play important roles in its development. Antioxidant/ oxidant balance perturbation is a common feature in autoimmune, emotiona...

Alopecia areata and vitiligo are autoimmune diseases, both associated with multiple autoimmune comorbidities. Many studies show colocalization of these diseases at the same anatomical site. Here, we have a case where both disorders were reported to present in the same patient. Diphenylcyclopropenone (diphencyprone, DCP) is used in the treatment of alopecia areata and may induce vitiligo in some...