The Hair Loss Encyclopedia

Gut Dysbiosis in Alopecia Areata Patients Reveals Overabundance of Firmicutes and Underrepresentation of Bacteroides

April 2019 in “ Journal of Investigative Dermatology ”

B. Sallee, Rolando Pérez‐Lorenzo, E.H. Wang, J.C. Chen, A.R. Abdelaziz, Lindsey Bordone, Angela M. Christiano

alopecia areata gut microbiome Firmicutes Bacteroides gut microbiota dysbiosis Fecal Microbiota Transfer targeted microbial therapy AA FMT

TLDR Alopecia Areata patients have too many Firmicutes and too few Bacteroides in their gut.

The study investigated the gut microbiome composition in 26 Alopecia Areata (AA) patients, revealing an overabundance of Firmicutes and an underrepresentation of Bacteroides compared to healthy controls, similar to findings in other autoimmune disorders. This gut dysbiosis was not observed in the skin or hair follicle microbiome, highlighting the gut's role in AA. The results suggested that gut microbiota dysbiosis might contribute to AA, providing a basis for potential treatments like Fecal Microbiota Transfer (FMT) and targeted microbial therapy to restore a healthy gut microbiota and potentially improve AA outcomes.

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