Abstract:

【Abstract】 Objective To assess the relationship of filaggrin expression with atopic diathesis and disease severity in patients with alopecia areata （AA）. Methods Thirty-seven patients with AA aged （26.3 ± 10.6） years were enrolled in this study. Atopic diseases were noted in 8 of these patients. Clinical data and laboratory test results were reviewed. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to quantify the expression of filaggrin protein in scalp biopsy specimens from all of the 37 patients with AA and from 10 human controls, and fluorescence-based semiquantitative reverse transcription-PCR to detect the expression of filaggrin mRNA in scalp biopsy specimens from 22 patients with AA and 13 healthy controls . Data were statistically analyzed by Mann Whitney U test, chi-square test, and Spearman's rank correlation test. Results The expressions of filaggrin protein and mRNA were significantly lower in patients with AA than in the controls （P < 0.05 or 0.01）, and the decrease seemed more obvious in patients with large areas of lesions, long duration of disease, and nail abnormalities, but the degree of decrease was unrelated to the complication with atopic diseases. No significant differences were observed in sex ratio, age at onset, disease duration, area of hair loss, the prevalence of family history or incidence of nail abnormalities and increase in serum IgE and eosinophils, between patients with atopic diseases and those without. Conclusions The expressions of filaggrin protein and mRNA are decreased in patients with AA, suggesting that filaggrin may participate in the development of AA and is correlated with the severity of AA.

Key words: semi-quantitative fluorescent RT-PCR