preview

Alopecia Areata Research Paper

Decent Essays

Alopecia areata (AA) is an autoimmune disease that causes temporary or permanent hair loss. The body attacks its own hair follicles, which ultimately causes them to stop growing. Typically, it is found in small patches on the scalp but it can be diagnosed anywhere on the body. According to Petukhova et al. (2011) this disease physically impacts 5.3 billion people just in the United States, affecting about 1-2% of the population. There is no known cure of AA and there is little evidence suggesting it is stress related. Geneticists have been able to use genome wide association studies (GWAS) to recognize genes that have affiliation with the onset of alopecia areata. Alkhalifah et al. (2010) observed monozygotic twins because they are likely to have similar criterions and patterns of hair follicle deterioration. They also observed that AA might be inherited due to patients having a family history of this autoimmune disease. Human leukocyte antigens genes (HLA) are affiliated in alopecia areata along with several HLA class I and II alleles (Alkhalifah et al. 2010). The HLA class II antigen is a main contributor to the development of AA. This gene is a big expresser on the hair follicles and it is expressed on immune cells, giving antigen peptides to a specific T cell, CD4+. These findings suggest that CD4+ cells do indeed …show more content…

According to Alkhalifah et al. (2010), due to genomic wide association screening there has

Get Access