TNF-Alpha in Nonscarring Inflammatory Alopecia

    March 2014 in “ Journal of The American Academy of Dermatology ”
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    TLDR TNF-a may not be as involved in certain types of hair loss as previously thought.
    The document presents findings from a study examining the role of TNF-a in nonscarring inflammatory alopecia, specifically alopecia areata (AA) and telogen effluvium (TE). The study hypothesized that TNF-a levels would be increased in biopsies from AA and TE due to the cytokine's involvement in the pathogenesis of these conditions and its correlation with stress, a known precipitating factor for these types of hair loss. Scalp biopsies from cases of AA, TE, androgenetic alopecia, and control samples from benign nevi excisions were stained for TNF-a and evaluated. Contrary to the hypothesis, the results showed that controls had the highest rate of positive TNF-a staining, while AA and TE had significantly less staining of the outer root sheath. These findings suggest that TNF-a may not play the expected role in AA and TE and could explain cases where patients developed AA while taking TNF-a inhibitors. No commercial support was identified for this study.
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