Primary Cicatricial Alopecia and Inflammatory Bowel Disease – Is There a Link?
March 2015
in “
Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology
”
TLDR Some people with primary cicatricial alopecia also have inflammatory bowel disease, suggesting a possible connection.
The document from March 19, 2015, explored a possible association between primary cicatricial alopecias (PCA) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In a retrospective review at two specialist hair clinics, 12 out of 279 PCA patients (2%) also had IBD, with an equal gender distribution and an average age of 42. The conditions observed included Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and collagenous colitis, with lichen planopilaris (LPP) being the most common PCA followed by folliculitis decalvans (FD). The study highlighted a higher than expected co-occurrence of IBD in PCA patients and suggested that shared autoimmune mechanisms and treatment approaches might indicate a connection between these conditions, potentially benefiting future research and treatments.
