Concurrent Eosinophilia Increases the Prevalence of Nail Abnormalities and Severity of Hair Loss in Patients With Alopecia Areata

Biomed Res Int. 2024 Sep 7:2024:5596647. doi: 10.1155/2024/5596647. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

Background: The potential link between alopecia areata (AA) and eosinophilia is unclear, as well as its clinical manifestations in these patients' subsets. Methods: This is a monocentric retrospective observational study in which clinical and laboratory data were summarized and evaluated the AA subset with concurrent eosinophilia. Results: In a sample of 205 AA patients, 38 (18.5%) were classified as AA with eosinophilia. Interestingly, this subset of patients had a statistically higher prevalence of atopia and nail abnormalities (p < 0.05) than AA without eosinophilia. AA patients with eosinophilia had a 3.70 higher odds of more severe hair loss versus age- and gender-matched AA without eosinophilia. Conclusions: AA patients with eosinophilia had distinctive clinical and laboratory characteristics, so future studies may potentially explore the use of IL-5 inhibitors.

Keywords: Alopecia areata; alopecia; atopic dermatitis; atopy; eosinophilia; eosinophilic disease.

Publication types

  • Observational Study

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Alopecia Areata* / epidemiology
  • Eosinophilia* / epidemiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Nails / pathology
  • Nails, Malformed / epidemiology
  • Prevalence
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Young Adult