Association Between Genetically Predicted Leukocyte Telomere Length and Non-Scarring Alopecia: A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study

January 2023 in “ Frontiers in Immunology ”

Yicheng Li, Shuting Yang, Minjun Liao, Zhong Zheng, Mengyao Li, Xuerong Wei, Mengqian Liu, Lei Yang

leukocyte telomere length non-scarring alopecia androgenetic alopecia alopecia areata single nucleotide polymorphisms Mendelian randomization LTL AGA AA SNPs

TLDR Shorter telomeres in white blood cells may increase the risk of a common type of hair loss.

The Mendelian randomization study used 126 single nucleotide polymorphisms to investigate the relationship between leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and non-scarring alopecia, specifically androgenetic alopecia (AGA) and alopecia areata (AA). The results showed a causal relationship between shorter LTL and an increased risk of AGA, but not AA. The risk of AGA increased by 3.19 times as the genetically predicted LTL was shortened by one standard deviation. These findings suggest that preventing the loss of leukocyte telomere may be a new target to reduce the risk of AGA. However, further studies are needed to confirm these results.

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