Studying the Association between Antithyroid Antibodies and Alopecia Areata
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- Category: Vol. 84, June 2016
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Studying the Association between Antithyroid Antibodies and Alopecia Areata, EMAN SHAARAWY, RANIA ABD EL-HAY, NESRINE SAMIR, MERVAT KHORSHIED, HEBA GOUDA, IMAN HELWA and YASMINE EL-ZAWAHRY
Abstract
Background: The etiology of Alopecia Areata (AA) is not exactly known, however factors such as genetic predispo-sition, autoimmunity and stress have been suggested.
Aim: To investigate the frequency of thyroid autoimmunity related with AA and its effect.
Patients and Methods: 144 AA patients were enrolled in this study; all patients were examined for Anti-Thyroperoxidase (TPO) by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) technique. The anti-TPO positive AA patients (Group I) were compared to the anti-TPO antibody negative cases (Group II) regarding demographic data, clinical presentation and treatment response to previous or current medication.
Results: This observational analytical study included 144 AA cases, 30% of them (n=44) showed positive anti-TPO antibodies. Comparing anti-TPO positive AA patients (n=44) versus anti-TPO negative AA patients (n=100) revealed no significant difference regarding the demographic data, the clinical presentation and the treatment response to previous or current medication.
Conclusion: Detailed thyroid autoimmunity tests are not required for all AA patients; it is more suitable that further evaluation should be done in particular cases especially those with positive family history of AA or other autoimmune disease.