/ EVALUATION OF TOTAL SERUM IMMUNOGLOBULIN E IN ATOPIC AND NONATOPIC ALOPECIA AREATA PATIENTS

Clinical trials and experimental

EVALUATION OF TOTAL SERUM IMMUNOGLOBULIN E IN ATOPIC AND NONATOPIC ALOPECIA AREATA PATIENTS

Background: The etiology of AA has experienced considerable drift over the years and different schools of thought have assigned varied etiologies to the condition.
The mechanism by which IgE might interact in the pathogenesis of AA is unknown. Total serum IgE was measured in previous studies with controversial results.

Objective: This study has objectives to evaluate the serum IgE level in atopics and nonatopics, within AA patients; compare the result with apparently healthy control; and verify association between IgE and AA.

Patients And Methods: After giving informed consent, 135 patients with AA and 100 healthy, collected from the Dermatology Outpatient Clinic, during the period from April 2013 till April 2015. All subjects of the study (patients and controls) were divided into two groups, one group with atopy and the other group without atopy.
Patients and controls were subjects to determination of total serum IgE level. Five ml of blood was taken from each participants for determination of total serum IgE using the DRG® IgE (EIA-1788) (DRG International Inc, USA) by ELISA.

Results: Atopic patients were 38 (28.15%) and nonatopic patients were 97 (71.85%). Twenty two (57.9%) of 38 AA patients with atopy had elevated serum concentrations of total IgE, compared to controls group were eight (32%) of 25 had elevated serum IgE levels. Thirty four (35%) of 97 AA patients without atopy had elevated serum concentrations of total IgE compared to controls group, were sixteen (21.33%) of 75 had elevated serum IgE levels.
Comparison between total cases and controls revealed that there was a significant difference between both groups as p<0.05; but there were insignificant difference between severity types of AA.

Conclusions: Total serum IgE is elevated in atopy and without atopy of AA patients. Hypersensitivity may be involved in pathogenesis of AA. The exact role of serum IgE in AA should be additionally investigated in future studies will be helpful in clarifying our understanding of AA, leading to improvements in diagnosis and treatment.