El-Morsy Eman H, Eid Amira A, Ghoneim Hossam, Al-Tameemi Khaleel A
Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Andrology, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
Department of Immunology, Medical Research Institute, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
Int J Dermatol. 2016 Aug;55(8):869-74. doi: 10.1111/ijd.12994. Epub 2015 Oct 16.
There is strong evidence for an autoimmune etiology of alopecia areata (AA). Interleukin-17A (IL-17A) is a Th17 proinflammatory cytokine that has been linked to the pathogeneses of diverse autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
This study aimed to measure serum IL-17A in AA patients and to study associations between IL-17A levels and AA severity, duration, and age of onset, and patient gender and age.
The study enrolled 39 AA patients and 37 healthy control subjects. Scalp involvement was assessed using the Severity of Alopecia Tool (SALT), and clinical disease severity was determined. Serum IL-17A was measured using ELISAs.
Serum IL-17A was significantly higher in AA patients than in control subjects (P < 0.001). Correlations between serum IL-17A and gender, disease duration, SALT score, and disease severity were non-significant. Serum IL-17A was significantly higher in patients aged ≤30 years than in patients aged >30 years (P = 0.045). Age and serum IL-17A were significantly negatively correlated in patients with AA (rs = -0.363, P = 0.023) but not in control subjects (rs = -0.294, P = 0.077). Patients with juvenile-onset AA had significantly higher IL-17A levels than those with maturity-onset disease (P = 0.034). There was a significant negative correlation between age at disease onset and serum IL-17A (rs = -0.349, P = 0.029).
It is possible that IL-17A plays a role in the pathogenesis of AA. Serum IL-17A may be influenced by patient age and age of onset of AA but does not seem to influence disease severity.
有充分证据表明斑秃（AA）的病因是自身免疫。白细胞介素-17A（IL-17A）是一种Th17促炎细胞因子，与多种自身免疫性和炎性疾病的发病机制有关。
本研究旨在检测AA患者血清IL-17A水平，并研究IL-17A水平与AA严重程度、病程、发病年龄以及患者性别和年龄之间的关联。
该研究纳入了39例AA患者和37名健康对照者。使用脱发严重程度工具（SALT）评估头皮受累情况，并确定临床疾病严重程度。采用酶联免疫吸附测定法（ELISA）检测血清IL-17A。
AA患者血清IL-17A显著高于对照者（P < 0.001）。血清IL-17A与性别、病程、SALT评分和疾病严重程度之间的相关性不显著。≤30岁患者的血清IL-17A显著高于>30岁的患者（P = 0.045）。AA患者中年龄与血清IL-17A显著负相关（rs = -0.363，P = 0.023），但在对照者中无显著相关性（rs = -0.294，P = 0.077）。青少年期发病的AA患者IL-17A水平显著高于成年期发病的患者（P = 0.034）。疾病发病年龄与血清IL-17A之间存在显著负相关（rs = -0.349，P = 0.029）。
IL-17A可能在AA的发病机制中起作用。血清IL-17A可能受患者年龄和AA发病年龄的影响，但似乎不影响疾病严重程度。
