The Role of Autoimmune Thyroid Disorders in Patients With Alopecia Areata

This retrospective study investigated the association between thyroid autoimmunity and alopecia areata (AA) in 152 patients aged 2-65 years. The study found elevated thyroid autoantibodies in 29 patients, 21 of whom were female and 8 male. Of these 29 patients, 10 had hypothyroidism, 2 had chronic thyroiditis, and 3 had toxic multinodular goiter. The mean thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), anti-TG antibody (Anti-TG), and anti-TPO (Anti-TPO) values were 2.27±1.57, 29.2±99, and 71.5±2.2, respectively. There was a significant difference between men and women in terms of Anti-TG and Anti-TPO values. A significant correlation was found between disease duration and Anti-TPO positivity. However, the study concluded that the association between thyroid autoimmunity and AA was not statistically significant, possibly due to the different roles of humoral and cellular autoimmunity in thyroid autoimmunity and AA, respectively. The epidemiologic data of the study were similar to those of other studies conducted in the same country.