Chemokine C-C Motif Ligand 7 (CCL7), a Biomarker of Atherosclerosis, Is Associated with the Severity of Alopecia Areata: A Preliminary Study

The study conducted on 120 participants, including 60 patients with alopecia areata and 20 healthy controls, found a significant correlation between the severity of Alopecia Areata (AA) and the levels of Chemokine C-C Motif Ligand 7 (CCL7), a biomarker of atherosclerosis. Patients with severe AA had higher levels of CCL7 compared to those with mild or moderate AA. Additionally, a positive correlation was found between the serum concentration of CCL7 and the severity of alopecia areata (r = 0.281, p = 0.03), and GDF15 correlated with age at the disease onset (r = 0.509, p < 0.0001). However, no significant differences were found in the serum levels of proinflammatory proteins between patients with alopecia areata and healthy controls. These findings suggest that CCL7 could potentially be used as a biomarker to assess the severity of AA, and that the severity of AA may be associated with an increased risk of atherosclerosis. Further research is needed to confirm these findings and evaluate atherosclerosis and cardiovascular risk in patients with alopecia areata.