Antibodies to Hair Follicles in Alopecia Areata

Mediation of Alopecia Areata by Cooperation Between CD4+ and CD8+ T Lymphocytes

“…5 The condition responds to treatment with immunomodulating agents, including corticosteroids, 6 and immunotherapy with contact sensitizers. 7 Circulating antibodies to hair follicles are present in human 8,9 and murine 10 alopecia areata. However, these antibodies are also reported in controls and exhibit variability in the structures that they bind.…”

Alopecia areata: an autoimmune disease?

“…Hair follicle specific IgG autoantibodies have been found in increased concentrations in the peripheral blood of AA affected individuals compared to ''normal'', non-affected humans (82,83). This recent discovery has been mirrored by identifying hair follicle specific autoantibodies with cross species specificity to hair follicle antigens between humans, dogs, horses, mouse, and rat models of AA (84)(85)(86)(87)(88)(89)(90).…”

“…However, evidence that does not implicate autoantibodies in AA includes: a) autoantibody based autoimmune diseases are less prevalent than cell mediated autoimmune diseases, b) no consistent target epitopes for hair follicle specific autoantibodies have been identified in humans, rats, or mice with AA, c) up to 30% of healthy humans produce low levels of hair follicle specific autoantibodies compared to 75% of AA affected humans (82,83), d) the association of hypogammaglobulinemia and AA in a single individual suggest that autoantibodies may not always be the key pathogenic factor (91). Further, CBA/ CaHN-Btk xid /J mice with X-linked agammaglobulinemia and deficient in IgM and IgG3 production have been identified with AA-like inflammatory hair loss (McElwee, Sundberg, unpublished observations).…”

Thyroid Autoimmunity in Patients with Skin Disorders

“…The etiopathogenesis of AA is still unclear, but there is evidence that autoimmunity and endocrine dysfunction may be involved [24][25][26]. The autoimmune etiology has been proposed on the basis of its association with various autoimmune diseases, the presence of autoantibodies and various underlying immune abnormalities in the affected sites of these patients [27,28]. One of the main associations is with thyroid abnormalities.…”