TLDR Most patients with autoimmune blistering diseases experienced some hair loss, which may be underreported and linked to disease severity.
A cross-sectional study involving 41 patients with autoimmune blistering diseases (AIBDs) found that 71% of these patients had at least one type of alopecia. The study also found that 10% of patients had nonspecific scarring alopecia, likely related to their disease. Elevated Dsg1 ratios were predictive of hair loss in pemphigus vulgaris, and increased alopecia was associated with worse disease severity in bullous pemphigoid. The study suggests that the incidence of alopecia may be higher than reported due to the lack of routine hair examination in AIBDs patients. The study was limited by a small sample size and the lack of severe cases. Future research could focus on developing a universal alopecia tool, enrolling patients with severe disease, and conducting local biopsies of the scalp in patients with alopecia to test for specific cytokines.
7 citations,
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6 citations,
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