Serum Calprotectin Levels in Patients with Alopecia Areata and Exploratory Stool Calprotectin Measurement: Case–Control Study
Noha Ezzat Mohamad, Rania Hosnay Mahmoud, Omnia Ehab Ahmed, Asmaa Mohamed MokhtarABSTRACT
Context:
Alopecia areata (AA) is one of the autoimmune diseases characterized by nonscarring hair loss. It may be associated with other autoimmune diseases. Calprotectin is a biomarker for inflammatory processes, which can trigger intracellular signaling cascades leading to the initiation of inflammatory processes. Serum and stool calprotectin were documented to be elevated in various inflammatory skin disorders like acne, psoriasis, and atopic dermatitis.
Aim:
The aim of the study was to evaluate serum calprotectin level in AA patients, correlating its level with disease severity and activity, and exploratory fecal calprotectin measurement in certain cases to detect if there is skin–gut axis.
Settings and Design:
Prospective Case–control study.
Subjects and Methods:
This prospective Case–control study included 33 AA patients and 30 healthy individuals as the control group. Serum calprotectin levels were measured in both patients and controls by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique, and the severity of alopecia tool (SALT) score was done for all AA patients. Fecal calprotectin was measured by ELISA technique in the patients of AA with the highest serum levels.
Statistical Analysis Used:
All data were statistically analyzed using SPSS 18 for Windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).
Results:
The results revealed that serum calprotectin level was higher in AA patients compared to controls in a statistically significant manner with
Conclusion:
Serum calprotectin may play a role in the pathogenesis of AA, but it cannot be used to monitor disease severity or activity.