Hair Follicle Immune Privilege in Autoimmune and Immune-Mediated Alopecias: Paths Toward Reestablishing Immune Tolerance

    March 2026 in “ Frontiers in Medicine ”
    Pedram Shafiei-Jahani, Xin Li, Amitis Akbari … Omid Akbari
    Studysummary This study provides a framework for understanding different types of alopecias based on immune privilege collapse at specific follicular sites, revealing distinct patterns in immune effector programs and stromal influences depending on the alopecia type.
    Automatically generated from the study's abstract, not written by a person, and not a review of the full paper. Not medical advice or a treatment recommendation. Read the original study, and consult a qualified healthcare professional before changing treatment. Full disclaimer
    Read the full study on public-pages-files-2025.frontiersin.org →
    Discuss this study in the Community →

    Research cited in this study 47

    1. Towards Cell-Based Therapy of Alopecia Areata: Autologous Human Vδ2+ Foxp3+ γδTreg Cells Restore Hair-Follicle Immune Privilege and Promote Hair Regrowth in Human Alopecia Areata Models Ex Vivo and In Vivo Journal of Investigative Dermatology · 2026
    2. Alopecia Areata: From Immunopathogenesis to Emerging Therapeutic Approaches Frontiers in Immunology · 2025
    3. Immune Therapies for Alopecia Areata: Evidence and New Perspectives Expert Review of Clinical Immunology · 2025
    4. From Mechanisms to Therapies: Current Advances and Breakthroughs in Alopecia Areata Immunopathology Frontiers in Immunology · 2025
    5. Single-Cell Sequencing Combined With Spatial Transcriptomics Reveals the Characteristics of Follicle-Targeted Inflammation Patterns in Primary Cicatricial Alopecia Cell & Bioscience · 2025
    6. Nanoparticle Adjuvants Incorporating Haptens Drive Potent Immune Tolerance to Accelerate Hair Regrowth ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces · 2025
    7. Low-Dose Metformin and Profibrotic Signature in Central Centrifugal Cicatricial Alopecia JAMA Dermatology · 2024
    8. Treatment of Lichen Planopilaris and Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia: A Retrospective, Real-Life Analysis in a Tertiary Center in Germany Journal of Clinical Medicine · 2024
    9. Pruritus in Lichen Planopilaris and Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia: Clinical Characteristics and Dermoscopic Correlations Journal of Clinical Medicine · 2024
    10. Pathogenesis of Alopecia Areata and Vitiligo: Commonalities and Differences International journal of molecular sciences · 2024
    11. New Histopathological Findings in Scarring Alopecias Archives of pathology & laboratory medicine · 2024
    12. Increased Expression of Psoriasin (S100A7) and Interleukin 17 (IL-17) in Lesional Skin in Lichen Planopilaris Advances in Dermatology and Allergology · 2024
    13. Inhibition of T-Cell Activity in Alopecia Areata: Recent Developments and New Directions Frontiers in immunology · 2023
    14. The Dermatoscope in the Hair Clinic: Trichoscopy of Scarring and Nonscarring Alopecia Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology · 2023
    15. Functional Interrogation of Lymphocyte Subsets in Alopecia Areata Using Single-Cell RNA Sequencing Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2023
    16. Trichoscopy Patterns in Alopecia Areata: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Skin Research and Technology · 2023
    17. The Potential of Regulatory T Cell-Based Therapies for Alopecia Areata Frontiers in Immunology · 2023
    18. Involvement of ILC1-Like Innate Lymphocytes in Human Autoimmunity: Lessons from Alopecia Areata eLife · 2023
    19. Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia: A Review of Disease Pathogenesis Frontiers in Medicine · 2022
    20. Immune-Mediated Alopecias and Their Mechanobiological Aspects Cells and Development · 2022
    21. Exosomes Secreted from Adipose-Derived Stem Cells Are a Potential Treatment Agent for Immune-Mediated Alopecia Journal of immunology research · 2022
    22. Hair Shaft Miniaturization Causes Stem Cell Depletion Through Mechanosensory Signals Mediated by a Piezo1-Calcium-TNF-α Axis Cell Stem Cell · 2021
    23. Clinicopathological Characteristics and Treatment Outcomes of Fibrosing Alopecia in a Pattern Distribution: A Retrospective Cohort Study Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology · 2021
    24. Maintenance of Barrier Tissue Integrity by Unconventional Lymphocytes Frontiers in Immunology · 2021
    25. Hair Follicle Immune Privilege and Its Collapse in Alopecia Areata Experimental dermatology · 2020
    26. Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia Shows Robust T Helper 1 and Janus Kinase 3 Skewing British journal of dermatology/British journal of dermatology, Supplement · 2020
    27. Alopecia Areata Patients Show Deficiency of FOXP3+CD39+ T Regulatory Cells and Clonotypic Restriction of Treg TCRβ-Chain, Highlighting the Immunopathological Aspect of the Disease PloS one · 2019
    28. Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia: Demographic and Clinical Characteristics of 490 Cases JEADV. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology/Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology · 2019
    29. Pathomechanisms of Immune-Mediated Alopecia International Immunology · 2019
    30. Variant PADI3 in Central Centrifugal Cicatricial Alopecia The New England Journal of Medicine · 2019
    31. Fibroproliferative Genes Are Preferentially Expressed in Central Centrifugal Cicatricial Alopecia Journal of The American Academy of Dermatology · 2018
    32. Alopecia Areata: A Review of Disease Pathogenesis British journal of dermatology/British journal of dermatology, Supplement · 2018
    33. Lichen Planopilaris and Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia as Model Epithelial Stem Cell Diseases Trends in Molecular Medicine · 2018
    34. Trichoscopy of Alopecia Areata: An Update The Journal of Dermatology · 2018
    35. Divergent Proliferation Patterns of Distinct Human Hair Follicle Epithelial Progenitor Niches In Situ and Their Differential Responsiveness to Prostaglandin D2 Scientific Reports · 2017
    36. Central Centrifugal Cicatricial Alopecia: New Insights and a Call for Action Journal of Investigative Dermatology Symposium Proceedings · 2017
    37. Alopecia Areata Is Driven by Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes and Is Reversed by JAK Inhibition Nature medicine · 2014
    38. Dermatoscopic Features of Central Centrifugal Cicatricial Alopecia Journal of The American Academy of Dermatology · 2014
    39. Lichen Planopilaris Is Characterized By Immune Privilege Collapse Of The Hair Follicle's Epithelial Stem Cell Niche The Journal of Pathology · 2013
    40. Alopecia Areata: An Autoimmune Disease Causing Hair Loss The New England Journal of Medicine · 2012
    41. Dermoscopy-Guided Scalp Biopsy in Cicatricial Alopecia Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology · 2012
    42. Hair and Scalp Dermatoscopy Journal of The American Academy of Dermatology · 2012
    43. Clinical Evaluation of Alopecias Using a Handheld Dermatoscope Journal of The American Academy of Dermatology · 2011
    44. The Pathogenesis of Primary Cicatricial Alopecias The American Journal of Pathology · 2010
    45. Clinical Significance of Dermoscopy in Alopecia Areata: Analysis of 300 Cases International Journal of Dermatology · 2008
    46. Maintenance of Hair Follicle Immune Privilege Is Linked to Prevention of NK Cell Attack Journal of Investigative Dermatology · 2007
    47. The Biology of Hair Follicles The New England Journal of Medicine · 1999