Association of vitamin D level with alopecia areata

Abstract

<span>Background: Alopecia areata (AA) is an autoimmune disorder of</span><br /><span>hair follicles. We aimed to find the association between Vitamin</span><br /><span>D level and AA.</span><br /><span>Method: Eligible AA patients and controls were enrolled in</span><br /><span>this case-control study and serum samples were assessed for</span><br /><span>25-hydroxy vitamin D (25-(OH)-D3). The levels of 25-(OH)-D3</span><br /><span>were categorized as deficient (<10ng/ml), insufficient (10 to</span><br /><span><30 mg/ml) and sufficient (>30ng/dl) and the SALT (Severity</span><br /><span>of Alopecia Tool) score was used to assess the severity of the</span><br /><span>disease. The data was analysed and the association between</span><br /><span>vitamin D levels and AA, disease distribution, and the pattern</span><br /><span>of hair loss was investigated.</span><br /><span>Result: Twenty eight patients (19 males, 9 females) and 44</span><br /><span>healthy controls (16 males, 28 females) were assessed. There</span><br /><span>was no statistically significant difference between patients and</span><br /><span>controls with regard to the level of 25(OH)D3 when the data was</span><br /><span>adjusted for gender (Ordinal odds ratio: 0.49 (0.18-1.34 and 95%</span><br /><span>CI, p-value=0.16). The level of 25(OH)D3 was lower in patients</span><br /><span>with nail involvement in contrast to those without it (P=0.02);</span><br /><span>moreover, no significant difference was found between patients</span><br /><span>with different patterns of hair loss.</span><br /><span>Conclusion: After adjustment for gender, there was no association</span><br /><span>between AA and the level of vitamin D.</span>